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THOMAS JEFFERSON 



THE LIFE OF 

THOMAS JEFFERSON 

By Samuel M. Schmucker, LLD. 

WITH NOTES BY 

HENRY KETCHAM 




ILLUSTRATED 



A. L. BURT COMPANY, ^ ^ ^ ^ 
jfc jfc jfc PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK 



/-' 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONORESS. 

Two Copies Received | 

JUN 23 1903 

^' Copyiight Entry 

CUSS a. xxc. Nc 

S D 1 h 2^ 

COPY a. 



Copjrright, 1903, 
By a. L. BURT COMPANY 



/ ^^^ 



PREFACE. ?2^ 



Thomas Jeffeeson was one of the great repre- 
sentative heroes of the age in which he lived. He 
will always remain a very prominent and remarka- 
ble character in American history. Several biogra- 
phies of him have already appeared ; but they have 
not satisfied the wants of the reading public on the 
subject. They have mostly been partisan works, 
filled either with indiscriminate praise, or with 
wholesale censure. 

I have endeavored in the following pages to 
throw as much light as possible upon the career and 
character of Mr. Jefferson ; and to aid in accomplish- 
ing this end, have quoted largely from his own writ- 
ings, from his Anas, his Memoirs, and his Corre- 
spondence. It is true that these are represented by 
his opponents as containing many partial and dis- 
colored statements ; but this objection will not apply 
to any of the quotations made in the present work. 

This book is neither a eulogy nor a tirade of cen- 
sure. It has been the aim of the writer to present 
both the merits and the defects of Mr. Jefferson in 



iii 



IV PREFACE. 

their true light. The chief fault of this illustrious 
man was a pusillanimous and morbid terror of popu- 
lar censure, and an insatiable thirsting after popular 
praise. He indeed saw very clearly, what every man 
of intelligence and observation must perceive, that a 
large proportion of mankind are in reality knaves and 
hypocrites; that vanity, selfishness, and perfidy, in 
various forms and under innumerable disguises, have 
always been the predominating qualities of human na- 
ture in every land and age ; that even the divine prin- 
ciples and institutions of religion have been so per- 
verted and distorted by human passions as to have 
become, in many instances, only the convenient tools 
for the aggrandizement of a more sanctimonious and 
aspiring form of selfishness; that were it not for a 
desire to preserve the "' dignity of vice," resulting 
from the innate pride of human nature, even the 
empty boast of seeming virtue would rarely be heard, 
and the reality of it would scarcely ever be seen, on 
the face of the earth ; in a word, that while the intel- 
lectual attributes of mankind assimilate them in 
many instances with angels, their propensities and 
their passions, in the majority of cases, leave an al- 
most imperceptible interval between themselves and 
the brute creation. 

Mr. Jefferson clearly perceived all this, and in his 
confidential letters to his most intimate friends — 



PREFACE. V 

one of which I have inserted in this work — he has 
given utterance to his convictions on the subject. 
And yet he has made himself justly liable to the 
charge of insincerity and inconsistency by publicly 
proclaiming, during his whole lifetime, different and 
opposite sentiments ; by upholding the dignity, gran- 
deur, and majesty of human nature ; by asserting the 
immaculate virtue of the multitude ; by defending the 
infallibility of their judgments and the perfection of 
their decrees; and by making himself the great 
apostle and champion of those popular prerogatives 
which, in his inmost soul, he held in unutterable con- 
tempt. 

After having set forth this defect in the character 
of Mr. Jefferson, together with the related weaknesses 
which naturally flowed from it, the residue of the 
description of him should be commendation of no or- 
dinary character ; it should be that rare praise which 
belongs to great talents devoted to the accomplish- 
ment of momentous results, and that too in the midst 
of imminent perils; persisted in through many long, 
vexatious years; opposed by tremendous obstacles; 
yet crowned at last with complete and overwhelming 
success. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



PAGE 

Birth of Thomas Jefferson — His Ancestors — Peter Jeffer- 
son—Thomas Jefferson Becomes a Pupil of Maury — He 
Enters William and Mary College — His Habits and Pecu- 
liarities— Dr. William Small — Jefferson's Attachment to 
Miss Burwell — His Letters — Governor Fauquier — Elo- 
quence of Patrick Henry— Jefferson's Journey to Phila- 
delphia and New York— His Admission to the Bar— His 
Qualities as a Lawyer — Is Elected to the Virginia House 
of Burgesses— His Activity and Influence in that Body. 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Burning of Jefferson's Residence— His Marriage— Events 
of 1773— Proceedings in Rhode Island— Measures of the 
Virginia House of Burgesses— Committees of Corre- 
spondence-British Aggressions— Steps of Resistance 
Taken in Virginia— Activity of Mr. Jefferson— The 
Convention— Resolutions Adopted by that Body— The 
"Summary View of the Rights of British America" — 
Delegates to the First Continental Congress — Jefferson's 
Resolutions in the Virginia Legislature— His Answer to 
Lord North's Proposition 27 

CHAPTER III. 

Mr. Jefferson Elected a Member of Congress— His Ap- 
pointment on Important Committees— His Reports — 
Mr. Dickinson of Pennsylvania— Mr. Jefferson Prepares 
a Constitution and Declaration of Rights for Virginia — 
The Legislature of Virginia Recommends a Declaration 

vii 



Viii CONTENTS. 

PAaB 
of Independence — Mr. Jefferson's Influence in Congress 
— Resolution of Richard Henry Lee — Mr. Jefferson 
Drafts the Original Declaration of Independence — State 
of Parties in Congress — Adoption and Promulgation of 
the Declaration — Excitement Throughout the Colonies 
on the Subject — Literary Merits of tlie Declaration — 
Its Historic Influence and Importance — Mr. Jefferson's 
Opinion Respecting it— Its Future Influence 45 

CHAPTER IV. 

Mr. Jefferson Declines a Re-election to Congress — Results 
of His Labors in Congress — Appointed Commissioner to 
France — He Declines — He Takes His Seat in the Legis- 
lature of Virginia — He Proposes a Law for the Reor- 
ganization of the Courts of Justice — He Proposes a Law 
for the Abolition of Entails — He Proposes a Bill to Over- 
throw the Established Church in Virginia— Fierce Con- 
flicts Wliich Ensued— The Final Result— Jefferson's Ul- 
timate Triumph — Establishment of Absolute Religious 
Freedom in Virginia — Mr. Jefferson Obtains the Passage 
of a Law Abolishing the Foreign Slave Trade in Vir- 
ginia — History of that Reform in Foreign Countries 60 

CHAPTER V. 

Proposition to Codify the Laws of Virginia — A Commit- 
tee Appointed for the Purpose — Mr, Jefferson's Portion 
of the Task — Changes in the Law of Descents — Changes 
in tlie Criminal Law — Meeting of the Committee — Their 
Report to the Legislature — Leading Reforms Introduced 
by Mr. Jefferson into the Code — Religious Freedom — 
Abolition of Slavery— General System of Education — 
The Captive Army of Burgoyne Quartered at Charlottes- 
ville— Popular Excitement— Useful and Benevolent Ac- 
tivity of Jefferson in Reference to the Captives 73 

CHAPTER VI. 

Mr. Jefferson Elected Governor of Virginia — His Measures 
of Retaliation upon the British — Ai-rest of Henry Hamil- 



CONTENTS. 



ton — Washington Approves of Jefferson's Measures — 
Tarlton's Invasion of Virginia — Jefferson's Activity — 
His Letter to AVashington — Attack of the British on 
Richmond — Schemes to Capture Arnold — Their Failure 
— Attempt of the British to take Jefferson at Monticello 
— His Escape — Efforts made to Impeach Jefferson in the 
Legislature — Their Defeat — Jefferson's Defense of his 
Official Acts 87 

CHAPTER VII. 

Mr. Jefferson Chosen a Plenipotentiary to England — Death 
of Mrs. Jefferson — Mission to England Abandoned — Mr. 
Jefferson Elected a Delegate to Congress — Improve- 
ments in the Currency — Washington Resigns his Com- 
mission to Congress at Annapolis — The Definitive Treaty 
with England — Anti-Slaveiy Ordinances Proposed by 
Mr. Jefferson in Congress in 1784 — He is Appointed 
Plenipotentiary to France— Conferences with the French 
Ministry — Attempt to Negotiate a Commercial Treaty 
with Great Britain 104 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Convention at Annapolis — Summoning of the Fed- 
eral Convention — Adoption of the New Constitution — 
Origin and State of Political Parties in the United 
States— Jefferson's Opinions in Reference to the Federal 
Constitution — His Letters on the Subject — Opposing 
Opinions of Washington — Vox Populi, Vox Dei — Jeffer- 
son's Travels in Europe— His Diplomatic Labors — 
Events of the French Revolution— Jefferson's Opinions 
in Reference to those Events 180 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Convocation of the States-General of France — Jeffer- 
son's Description of French Parties — Jefferson's Plan 
for the Settlement of the Kingdom — His Return to the 
United States — His Reception at Monticello — He is In- 
vited by Washington to Become Secretary of State — He 



X CONTENTS. 

rAOK 

Accepts the Offer— His Views on the Question of Public 
Credit— His Reports on the Coinage, Weights and Meas- 
ures — His Letter to the National Assembly of France 
on the Death of Franklin— His Views on the United 
States Bank 149 

CHAPTER X. 

Disputes in the Cabinet of Washington— Jeff erson's State- 
ment of Hamilton's Views— Hamilton's Superiority- 
Mr. Jefferson's Purpose of Retiring— Giles' Resolutions 
—Jefferson's Vindication of Himself— His Profound and 
Able Opinion in Reference to the War with France — 
Conduct of Genet, the French Minister— The Little 
Democrat— Genet's Recall— Jefferson's Description of 
his Associates in the Cabinet 170 

CHAPTER XI. 

Mr. Jefferson's Retirement from the Cabinet of Washing- 
ton — His Motives for so doing — His Lettars to Mr. Madi- 
son — His Last Report to Congress — His Letter of Resig- 
nation — Causes of Previous Dissensions in the Cabinet — 
Mr. Jefferson's Charges Against Mr. Hamilton— Evi- 
dence of their Falsehood— The National Gazette — Fre- 
neau— Mr. Jefferson Refuses to Suppress the National 
Gazette— His Return to Monticello— His Celebrated 
Letter to Mazzei— Jefferson's Apology to Washington 
for its Strictures on him 185 

CHAPTER Xn. 
Mr. Jefferson Elected Vice-President— His Relations to 
the President— Tlie New Cabinet— Disputes^ with the 
French Government — American Envoys sent to Paris — 
Their Reception There— Mr. Jefferson's Political Creed 
—Indignation in the United States Against France- 
Napoleon Bonaparte Succeeds to the French Directory, 
and makes a Treaty with the United States— Termina- 
tion of Mr. Adams' Administration — The Approaching 
Election— Dr. Logan's Private Mission to France 308 



CONTENTS. ad 

CHAPTER Xin. 

PAGE 

Popular Excitement Previous to the Election of 1801— 
Result of the Popular Vote— Jefferson's Letter to Burr- 
Election in the House of Representatives— The Equality 
of Votes Between Jefferson and Burr — Influence of Al- 
exander Hamilton — Election of Jefferson to the Presi- 
dency—His Inaugural Address — Letter to Eldredge 
Gerry— Mr. Jefferson's Cabinet— His Letter to Thomas 
Paine — Mr. Livingston Appointed Minister to France — 
War between the United States and Tripoli— Its Inci- 
dents and Results— Mr. Jefferson's First Message to 
Congress— Measures of the Administration — Negotia- 
tions Respecting Louisiana 220 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Settlement of the Yazoo Claims in Alabama and 
Mississippi — The Purchase of Louisiana from France — 
Letter of Mr. Jefferson on the Subject to General Gates 
— Repeal of the Bankrupt Law — Mr. Jefferson's Views 
on the United States Bank — Death of Mrs. Eppes— Mr. 
Jefferson's Gun-Boat System — Results of his First Ad- 
ministration — Mr. Jefferson's Motives and Excuses for 
a Second Election — His Letter to Alexander I., Czar of 
Russia 248 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Conspiracy of Aaron Burr — The Nature of his Enter- 
prise — Mr. Randolph's Resolution in Congress — Arrest 
of Col. Burr — Incidents of the Trial — Eloquence of Wm. 
Wirt — Jefferson's Prejudices Against Burr — The Em- 
bargo Law — Mr. Jefferson's Last Message to Congress 
— Addresses Sent to Mr. Jefferson on his Retiring — 
Address of the Legislature of Virginia — Inauguration 
of Mr. Madison — Mr. Jefferson's Final Return to Monti- 
cello — His Feelings on this Occasion 263 



xii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

PAOB 

Mr. Jefferson's Habits of Life in his Retirement — Inci- 
dents of his Residence at Monticello— The Mecklenburg 
Declaration of Independence — Mr. Jefferson's Pecuniary 
DiflSculties — The Plan of a Lottery — Public Contribu- 
tions to his Relief — His Last Sickness — His Death — 
Estimate of his Character— His Religious Opinions — 
Defects of his Character — His want of Sincerity and 
Truthfulness — His False Charges against Mr. Hamilton 
— Evidence of their Falsehood — His Secret Opposition 
to the Federal Constitution — Novel and Absurd Grounds 
of his Opposition -Chief Difference between Jefferson 
and Hamilton— Conclusion 279 



APPENDIX. 

No. I. 

The Solemn Declaration and Protest of the Common- 
wealth of Virginia, on the Principles of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States of America, and on the Viola- 
tions of them. Written by Mr. Jefferson 341 

No. II. 
Jefferson's Estimate of Federalism and Democracy 346 

No. III. 
Jefferson's Opinion of George Washington 348 

No. IV. 
Jefferson's Rules for the Conduct of Life. 353 

No. V. 
Jefferson's Correspondence after his Retirement 353 



CONTENTS. xiii 

No. VI. 

PAGE 

Jefferson's Opinion of Bonaparte and the English Govern- 
ment 356 

No. VII. 

Jefferson's Professions of Friendship and Secret Hostility 
to Burr 369 

No. VIII. 
Jefferson's Strictures on Washington's Administration. . . 376 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



CHAPTEK I. 

Birth of Thomas Jefferson — His Ancestors — Peter Jefferson — 
Thomas Jefferson Becomes a Pupil of Maury — He Enters 
William and Mary College — His Habits and Peculiarities 
— Dr. William Small — Jefferson's Attachment to Miss 
Bur well — His Letters — Governor Fauquier — Eloquence of 
Patrick Henry — Jefferson's Journey to Philadelphia and 
New York — His Admission to the Bar— His Qualities as a 
, Lawyer — Is Elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses — 
His Activity and Influence in that Body. 

Virginia possesses the high distinction of being 
the mother both of great empires and of great men. 
From her bosom have gone forth, in successive gener- 
ations, the sturdy and enterprising myriads who have 
helped to people the vast domains which lie to the 
sonth and west of her own borders; and which now 
constitute so large and so important a portion of 
the Union. She has also given birth to many dis- 
tinguished men, who, in different eras of the past, 
have shed lustre on their native land by their genius, 



2 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

their patriotism, and the splendor of their achieve- 
ments. Foremost among all these is Washington, 
the most illustrious sage and hero of modern times. 
It had heen sufficient glory for any country to have 
produced him alone. But very near that stately and 
sublime personage, there stands in the great pantheon 
of immortal fame another figure of impressive and 
solemn presence, to whom Virginia also gave exis- 
tence, — and he is the subject of our present history. 

Thomas Jbffekson was born at Shadwell,* in 
Albemarle county, on the 2d of April, 1743. His an- 
cestors, on his father's side, were of Welsh descent; 
and his immediate predecessors had been among the 
earliest inhabitants of the colony of Virginia. They 
enjoyed the reputation of having been intelligent, 
prosperous, and highly respectable citizens ; and were 
the possessors of considerable wealth. The grand- 
father of Thomas Jefferson had three sons. One of 
these died at an early age. Another removed to the 
southern extremity of the State, and there passed an 
unobtrusive and an obscure existence. The third, 
who was named Peter, had removed from Chesterfield 
count}" where he had been reared, to Shadwell, where 
Thomas, his eldest child, was born. His wife was 
Jane Randolph, w^ho was connected with one of the 

* Shadwell, which to-day contains 2,200 inhabitants, is sit- 
uated in tlie eastern part of Albemarle County, about seventy- 
five miles northwest of Richmond. 



, LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 3 

oldest and most reputable families in the colony. 
She was a woman of superior intelligence and amia- 
bility, and became the wife of Peter Jefferson in 
1739, at the age of nineteen. 

Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas, had never 
enjoyed many facilities for mental cultivation ; yet 
his talents were of a superior grade, and his industry 
in the pursuit of knowledge had been so persevering, 
while his judgment was regarded as so correct, that 
he was selected to perform the task of ascertaining 
and settling the boundary line between the territories 
of Virginia and ISTorth Carolina. His associate in 
this responsible task was Joshua Fry, the professor 
of mathematics in William and Mary College. 

When five years old, Thomas Jefferson com- 
menced his studies at an English school. At nine he 
began the acquisition of the Latin, Greek, and French 
languages under the direction of a Scotch clergyman 
named Douglass. Peter Jefferson died in 1757, leav- 
ing two sons and six daughters. But they were not 
destitute; for to each of them their deceased parent 
had devised an estate. The portion of the inheri- 
tance that fell to Thomas was Shadwell, his birth- 
place, including also the farm at Monticello. 

After his father's death Thomas became the pupil 
of Mr. Maury, an eminent classical scholar of that 
day; and under his careful tuition he remained 



4 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. ' 

during two years. At this period he was already 
remarkable for his great industry, and for the rapid 
progress which he made in his studies. He seemed 
to possess an intuitive fondness for intellectual pur- 
suits ; yet he frequently took great delight in the exer- 
cise and diversion of hunting, for which the neigh- 
boring mountains, which traverse a portion of Albe- 
marle county, furnished the most favorable opportun- 
ities. 

In 1760, when seventeen years of age, Jefferson 
passed from the tuition of Mr. Maury to the higher 
studies and advantages of William and Mary Col- 
lege.* He had been well prepared for the labors of 
this new sphere by the thorough instruction imparted 
to him by his former preceptors. He remained two 
years in connection with this institution, which was 
situated then as now at the city of Williamsburg; 

* William and Mary college, founded in 1693, ranks next to 
Harvard as the second oldest college iu the United States, 
though its antecedents reach back to the year 1617. Among its 
earlier alumni were Jefferson , Monroe, and Tyler, all presidents 
of the United States ; Harrison, Braxton, Nelson, and Wythe, 
who signed the Declaration of Independence; Edmund 
Eandolph, chief author of the Constitution ; John Marshall, 
Chief Justice and interpreter of the Constitution ; and Lieu- 
tenant General Win field Scott. The institution experienced 
many difficulties during the war of the Revolution and during 
the Civil War of 1861-5. It is at present in a comparatively 
prosperous condition, though ranking with the smaller colleges 
of the country. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 5 

which place Jefferson, in his earlier letters to his most 
intimate friends, designated by the somewhat satiri- 
cal epithet of " Devilabnrg." 

Kespecting his pursuits and studies while at this 
institution Jefferson himself has furnished the most 
satisfactory account in his " Memoir." Says he : 
'^ It was my great good fortune, and probably fixed the 
destinies of my life, that Dr. William Small of Scot- 
land was the professor of mathematics, a man pro- 
found in most of the useful branches of science, with 
a happy talent of communication, correct and gentle- 
manly manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. 
He, most happily for me, became soon attached to me, 
and made me his daily companion when not engaged 
in the school; and from his conversation I got my 
first views of the expansion of science, and of the 
system of things in which we are placed. Fortu- 
nately, the philosophical chair became vacant soon 
after my arrival at college, and he was appointed to 
fill it, per interim; and he was the first who ever gave, 
in that college, regular lectures in ethics, rhetoric, 
and belles lettres. He returned to Europe in 1762, 
having previously filled up the measure of his good- 
ness to me, by procuring for me, from his most inti- 
mate friend, George Wythe, a reception as a student 
at law, under his direction, and introduced me to the 
acquaintance and familiar table of Governor Fan- 



6 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

quier, the ablest man who had ever filled that office. 
Wjthe, his amici omiiium lionorarum, and myself, 
Wythe, his amici omnium lionorarum, and myself, 
formed a partie guarre, and to the habitual conversa- 
tions on these occasions I owed much instruction. 
Mr. Wythe continued to be my faithful and beloved 
mentor in youth, and my most affectionate friend 
through life. In 1767, he led me into the practice of 
the law at the bar of the general court, at which I 
continued until the Revolution shut up the courts of 
justice." 

During the period of his residence at William and 
Mary College Jefferson was remarkable for the same 
habits of application, and for the same proficiency in 
his studies which he had previously displayed. His 
chief amusement w^as playing on the violin, in which 
agreeable art he acquired considerable skill. His 
letters of that date also furnish satisfactory proof that 
the future victor over British despotism was himself 
vanquished by the potent power of Cupid; and that 
he became even desperately in love. The object of 
his adoration was Miss Rebecca Burwell, a young 
lady of good family, and of considerable intelligence 
and beauty. For a time his ardent suit seemed to 
prosper. The lady bestowed upon her admirer a 
watch-paper * containing her portrait. But this treas- 

^ " A small circle of paper, silk, muslin, or other material, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. Y 

ure, whicli Jefferson highly i)rized, was destined to 
be as evanescent as her love, for it was destroyed by 
the rain. 

We will here introduce the only specimens of the 
early epistolary writings of the future statesman of 
Virginia, which are now in existence. They are val- 
uable both as being illustrative of his style of thought 
and expression at this youthful period, and as con- 
taining details of his life and experiences which throw 
considerable light on his feelings, character and pur- 
suits. They were addressed to John Page, afterward 
Governor Page, of Virginia ; and were furnished by 
his son to one of the biographers of Mr. Jefferson. 

" Fairfield, December 25, 1762. 
" Dear Page : 

'^ This very day, to others the day of greatest mirth 
and jollity, sees me overwhelmed with more and 
greater misfortunes than have befallen a descendant 
of Adam for these thousand years past I am sure; 
and perhaps, after excepting Job, since the creation 
of the world. I think his misfortunes were some- 
inserted in the outer case of an old-fashioned watch, to pre- 
vent the metal from defacing the inner case. These papers 
were frequently cut with elaborate designs, or painted with 
miniatures or ciphers and devices." The practice of carrying 
minintures in the watch continued long after the usefulness 
of watcli-paper, as such, hs4 ceased. 



8 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

what greater than mine: for although we may be 
pretty nearly on a level in other respects, yet, I thank 
my God, I have the advantage of brother Job in this, 
that Satan has not as yet put forth his hand to load 
me with bodily afflictions. You must know, dear 
Page, that I am now in a house surrounded with ene- 
mies who take counsel together against my soul ; and 
when I lay me down to rest, they say among them- 
selves, ^ Come, let us destroy him.' I am sure if 
there is such a thing as a Devil in this world, he 
must have been here last night and have had some 
hand in contriving what happened to me. Do you 
think the cursed rats (at his instigation, I suppose) 
did not eat up my pocketbook, which Avas in my 
pocket, within a foot of my head ? And not con- 
tented with plenty for the present, they carried away 
my jemmy-worked silk garters, and half-dozen new 
minutes I had just got, to serve, I suppose, as provis- 
ion for the winter. But of this I should not have ac- 
cused the Devil, (because, you know rats will be rats, 
and hunger, without the addition of his instigations, 
might have urged them to do this,) if something 
worse, and from a different quarter, had not hap- 
pened. You know it rained last night, or if you do 
not know it, I am sure I do. When I went to bed, I 
laid my watch in the usual place, and going to take 
her up, after I arose this morning, I found her in the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 9 

same place, it's true, but! Quantum mutatus ah 
illo I * all afloat in water, let in at a leak in the roof 
of the house, and as silent and still as the rats that 
had eat mj pocket-book. jSTow, you know, if chance 
had had any thing to do in this matter, there were a 
thousand other spots where it might have chanced to 
leak as well as at this one, which was perpendicularly 
over my watch. But I'll tell you; it's my opinion 
that the Devil came and bored the hole over it on 
purpose. Well, as I was saying, my poor watch had 
lost her speech. I should not have cared much for 
this, but something worse attended it; the subtle par- 
ticles of the water with which the case was filled, had, 
by their penetration, so overcome the cohesion of the 
particles of the paper, of which my dear picture and 
watch-paper were composed, that, in attempting to 
take them out to dry them, good God! Afens horret 
referre I f my cursed fingers gave them such a rent as, 
I fear, I shall never get over. This, cried I, was the 
last stroke Satan had in reserve for me ; he knew I 
cared not for any thing else he could do to me, and 
was determined to try this last most fatal expedient. 
* MuUis fortunce vulnerihus, percussus, liuic iini me 
imparem sensi, et peniius succuhui! ' % I would have 

* How changed from what she was ! 
f The mind shudders to dwell on it. 

X Struck by many wounds of fortune, I feel myself un- 
equal to this one and give up absolutely. 



10 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

cried bitterly, but I thought it beneath the dignity of 
a man, and a man too who had read rwv ov-tuv, ra fxev 
e^^-^fitv, ra d'ox £(p'/jLiv,^ However, whatever misfor- 
tunes may attend the picture or lover, my hearty 
prayers shall be, that all the health and happiness 
which Heaven can send may be the portion of the or- 
iginal, and that so much goodness may ever meet with 
w^hat may be most agreeable in this world, as I am 
sure it must be in the next. And now, although the 
picture be defaced, there is so lively an image of her 
imprinted in my mind, that I shall think of her too 
often, I fear, for my peace of mind ; and too often, I 
am sure, to get through old Coke this winter ; for 
God knows I have not seen him since I packed him up 
in my trunk in Williamsburg. Well, Page, I do 
wish the Devil had old Coke, for I am sure I never 
was so tired of an old dull scoundrel in my life. 
What! are there so few inquietudes tacked to this 
momentary life of ours, that we must need be loading 
ourselves with a thousand more ? Or, as brother Job 
says, (who, by-the-by, I think, began to whine a little 
under his afflictions,) ' Are not my days few ? Cease, 
then, that I may take comfort a little before I go 
whence I shall not return, even to the land of dark- 
ness and the shadow of death.' But the old fellows 

* Of existing things (i. e. troubles) some come upon us and 
others do not. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 11 

say we must read to gain knowledge, and gain knowl- 
edge to make us happy and be admired. Mere jar- 
gon! Is there any such thing as happiness in this 
world ? No. And as for admiration, I am sure the 
man who powders most, perfumes most, embroiders 
most, and talks most nonsense, is most admired. 
Though to be candid, there are some who have too 
much good sense to esteem such monkey-like animals 
as these, in whose formation, as the saying is, the 
tailors and barbers go halves with God Almighty ; and 
since these are the only persons whose esteem is worth 
a wish, I do not know but that, upon the whole, the 
advice of these old fellows may be worth following. 

"You cannot conceive the satisfaction it would 
give me to have a letter from you. Write me very cir- 
cumstantially every thing which happened at the wed- 
ding. Was she there ? because, if she was, I ought 
to have been at the Devil for not being there too. If 
there is any news stirring in town or country, such as 
deaths, courtships, or marriages, in the circle of my 
acquaintance, let me know it. Remember me affec- 
tionately to all the young ladies of my acquaintance, 
particularly the Miss Burwells and Miss Potters, and 
tell them that though that heavy earthly part of me, 
my body, be absent, the better half of me, my soul, is 
ever with them ; and that my best wishes shall ever 
attend them. Tell Miss Alice Corbin that I verily 



12 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

believe the rats knew I was to win a pair of garters 
from her, or they never wonld have been so cruel as to 
carry mine away. This very consideration makes 
me so sure of the bet, that I shall ask everybody I see 
from that part of the world what pretty gentleman is 
making his addresses to her. I w^ould fain ask the 
favor of Miss Becca Burwell to give me another 
watch paper of her own cutting, which I should es- 
teem much more, though it were a plain round one, 
than the nicest in the world cut by other hands — how- 
ever, I am afraid she would think this presumption, 
after my suffering the other to get spoiled. If you 
think 3^ou can excuse me to her for this, I should be 
glad if you would ask her. Tell Miss Sukey Potter 
that I heard, just before I came out of town, that she 
was offended with me about something, what it is I do 
not know ; but this I know, that I never was guilty of 
the least disrespect to her in my life, either in word or 
deed ; as far from it as it has been possible for one to 
be. I suppose when we meet next, she will be en- 
deavoring to repay an imaginary affront with a real 
one ; but she may save herself the trouble, for nothing 
that she can say or do to me shall ever lessen her in 
my esteem ; and I am determined always to look upon 
her as the same honest-hearted, good-humored, agree- 
able lady I ever did. Tell — tell — in short, tell them 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. Ig 

all ten thousand things more than either you or I can 
now or ever shall think of as long as we live. 

" My mind has been so taken up with thinking of 
my acquaintances, that, till this moment, I almost 
imagined myself in Williamsburg, talking to you in 
our old unreserved way; and never observed, till I 
turned over the leaf, to what an immoderate size I 
had swelled my letter — however, that I may not tire 
your patience by further additions, I will make but 
this one more, that I am sincerely and affectionately, 
" Dear Page, your friend and servant. 

'' P. S. I am now within an easy day's ride of 
Shadwell, whither I shall proceed in two or three 
days." 

" Shadwell, Jan. 20th, 1Y63. 
" Dear Page : 

" To tell you the plain truth, I have not a syllable 
to write to you about. For I do not conceive that any 
thing can happen in my world which you would give 
a curse to know, or I either. All things here appear 
to me to trudge on in one and the same round: we 
rise in the morning that we may eat breakfast, din- 
ner and supper, and go to bed again that we may get 
up the next morning and do the same: so that you 
never saw two peas more alike than our yesterday and 
to-dav. Under these circumstances, what would you 
have me say ? Would you that I should write noth- 



14 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ing but truth? I tell you I know nothing that is 
true. Or would you rather that I should write you a 
pack of lies ? Why, unless they were more ingenious 
than I am able to invent, they would furnish you with 
little amusement. What can I do then ? nothing, 
but ask you the news in your world. How have you 
done since I saw you ? How did ISTancy look at you 
when you danced with her at SouthalFs ? Have you 
any glimmering of hope ? How does K. B. do ? 
Had I better stay here and do nothing, or go down 
and do less ? or, in other words, had I better stay here 
while I am here, or go down that I may have the 
pleasure of sailing up the river again in a full-rigged 
flat? Inclination tells me to go, receive my sen- 
tence, and be no longer in suspense : but reason says, 
if you go, and your attempt proves unsuccessful, you 
will be ten times more wretched than ever. In my 
last to you, dated Fairfield, Dec. 25, I wrote to you 
of the losses I had sustained; in the present I may 
mention one more, which is the loss of the whites of 
my eyes, in the room of which I have got reds, which 
gives me such exquisite pain that I have not at- 
tempted to read any thing since a few days after Jack 
Walker went down ; and God knows when I shall be 
able to do it. I have some thoughts of going to Pe- 
tersburg, if the actors go there in May. If I do, I do 
not know but I may keep on to Williamsburg, as the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 15 

birtJi night will be near. I hear that Ben Harrison * 
has been to Wilton : let me know his success. Have 
YOU an inclination to travel, Page? because if jou 
have, I shall be glad of your company. For you 
must know that as soon as the Rebecca (the name I 
intend to give the vessel above mentioned) is com- 
pletely finished, I intend to hoist sail and aAvay. I 
shall visit particularly England, Holland, France, 
Spain, Italy, (where I would buy me a good fiddle,) 
and Egypt, and return through the British provinces 
to the northward, home. This to be sure, would take 
us two or three years, and if we should not both be 
cured of love in that time, I think the Devil would 
be in it. After desiring you to remember me to ac- 
quaintances below, male and female, I subscribe my- 
self, 

" Dear Page, your friend and servant. 

" Shadwell, July 15th, 1Y63. 
" Deak Page : 

" Yours of May 30th came safe to hand. The 
rival you mentioned I know not whether to think for- 

* Benjamin Harrison (1740-91) was a delegate to Congress 
1774_77^ a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and 
governor of Virginia 1782-5. He was also a member of the 
convention which framed the constitution of the United States 
in 1788. He was the father of President William Henry 
Harrison, and great-grandfather of President Benjamin 
Harrison. 



16 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

midable or not, as there has been so great an opening 
for him during mj absence. I saj Jias been, because 
I expect there is one no longer, since you have under- 
taken to act as my attorney. You advise me ta go 
immediately and lay siege in foi^m. You certainly 
did not think, at the time you wrote this, of that 
paragraph in my letter wherein I mentioned to you 
my resolution of going to Britain. And to begin an 
affair of that kind now, and carry it on so long a 
time in form, is by no means a proper plan. ISTo, no. 
Page ; whatever assurances I may give her in private 
of my esteem for her, or whatever assurances I may 
ask in return from her, depend on it — they must be 
kept in private. Necessity will oblige me to proceed 
in a method which is not generally thought fair ; that 
of treating with a ward before obtaining the appro- 
bation of her guardian. I say necessity will oblige 
me to it, because I never can bear to remain in sus- 
pense so long a time. If I am to succeed the 
sooner I know it, the less uneasiness I shall have to 
go through. If I am to meet with a disappointment, 
the sooner I know it, the more of life I shall have to 
wear it off : and if I do meet with one, I hope in God, 
and verily believe, it will be the last. I assure you, 
that I almost envy you your present freedom ; and if 
Belinda will not accept of my service, it shall never 
be offered to another. That she may, I pray most 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 17 

sincerely ; but that she will, she never gave me reason 
to hope. With regard to mj not proceeding in form, 
I do not know how she may like it. I am afraid not 
much. That her guardians would not, if they should 
know of it, is very certain. But I should think that 
if they were consulted after I return, it would be 
sufficient. The greatest inconvenience would be my 
not having the liberty of visiting so freely. This is a 
subject worth your talking over with her ; and I wish 
you would, and would transmit to me your whole 
confab at length. I should be scared to death at 
making her so unreasonable a proposal as that of 
waiting until I return from Britain, unless she could 
first be prepared for it. I am afraid it will make my 
chance of succeeding considerably worse. But the 
event at last must be this, that if she consents, I 
shall be happy; if she does not, I must endeavor to 
be as much so as j^ossible. I have thought a good 
deal on your case ; and as mine may perhaps be sim- 
ilar, I must endeavor to look on it in the same light Jn 
which I have often advised you to look on yours. 
Perfect happiness, I believe, was never intended by 
the Deity to be the lot of one of his creatures in this 
world ; but that He has very much put in our power 
the nearness of our approaches to it, is what I have 
steadfastly believed. 

" The most fortunate of us, in our journey througK 
2 



18 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes 
which may greatly afflict us ; and, to fortify our minds 
against the attacks of these calamities and misfor- 
tunes, should be one of the principal studies and en- 
deavors of our lives. The only method of doing this 
is to assume a perfect resignation to the Divine will, 
to consider that whatever does happen, must happen ; 
and that by our uneasiness, we cannot prevent the 
blow before it does fall, but we may add to its force 
after it has fallen. These considerations, and others 
such as these, may enable us in some measure to sur- 
mount the difficulties thrown in our w^ay; to bear up 
with a tolerable degree of patience under this bur- 
then of life; and to proceed with a pious and un- 
shaken resignation, till we arrive at our journey's 
end, when we may deliver up our trust into the hands 
of Ilim who gave it, and receive such reward as to 
Him shall seem proportioned to our merit. Such, 
dear Page, will be the language of the man who 
considers his situation in this life, and such should 
be the language of every man who would wish to 
render that situation as easy as the nature of it will 
admit. Few things will disturb him at all: nothing 
will disturb him much. 

" If this letter was to fall into the hands of some 
of our gay acquaintance, your correspondent and his 
golemn notions would probably be the subjects of a 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 10 

great deal of mirth and raillery, but to you, I think, 
I can venture to send it. It is in effect a continua- 
tion of the many conversations we have had on sub- 
jects of this kind ; and I heartily wish we could now 
continue these conversations face to face. The time 
will not be very long now before we may do it, as I 
expect to be in Williamsburg by the first of October, 
if not sooner. I do not know that I shall have occa- 
sion to return, if I can rent rooms in town to lodge 
in ; and to prevent the inconveniences of moving my 
lodgings for the future, I think to build: no castle 
though, I assure you : only a small house, which shall 
contain a room for myself and another for you, and 
no more, unless Belinda should think proper to favor 
us with her company, in which case, I will enlarge 
the plan as much as she pleases. Make my compli- 
ments to her particularly, as also to Sukey Potter, 
Judy Burwell, and such others of my acquaintance as 
inquire after me. I am, 

" Dear Page, your sincere friend," &c. 

" Williamsburg, October 7, 1763. 
" Dear Page : 

^' In the most melancholy fit that ever any poor 
soul was, I sit down to write to you. Last night, 
as merry as agreeable company and dancing with 
Belinda in the Apollo could make me, I never could 
have thought the succeeding sun would have seen me 



20 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

SO wretched as I now am ! I was prepared to saj a 
great deal: I had dressed up in my own mind, such 
thoughts as occurred to me, in as moving language as 
I knew how, and expected to have performed in 
a tolerably creditable manner. But, good God! 
When I had an opportunity of venting them, a few 
broken sentences, uttered in great disorder, and in- 
terrupted with pauses of uncommon length, were the 
too visible marks of my strange confusion! The 
whole confab I will tell you, word for word, if I can, 
when I see you, which God send may be soon. Af- 
fairs at W. and M. are in the greatest confusion. 
Walker, M'Clurg and Wat Jones are expelled pro 
tempore, or, as Horrox softens it, rusticated ^ for a 
month. Lewis Burwell, Warner Lewis, and one 
Thompson have fled to escape flagellation. I should 
have expected Warner Lewis, who came off of his 
own accord. Jack Walker leaves town on Monday. 
The court is now at hand, which I must attend con- 
stantly, so that unless you come to town, there is little 
probability of my meeting with, you any where else. 
For God's sake come. 

" I am, dear Page, 

" Your sincere friend,'' &c. 

* Rustication is the college term for the punishment of 
suspension. In former times the sentence frequently required 
the student to reside under the tutelage of some country 
clergyman, which accounts for the use of the word rusticate. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 21 

Jefferson is described at this period as having been 
very tall, thin and raw-boned. His hair was red, 
his features were sharp and pointed, and his face 
was freckled. Yet, to counterbalance these disad- 
vantages, his countenance was very intelligent and 
expressive, his conversation was lively and enter- 
taining, and not a few indications were constantly 
given, both by his language and by his actions, of the 
possession of a superior and a powerful intellect. 

During the college terms of Jefferson, he was an 
acquaintance and favorite of Mr. Farquier, at that 
time the British governor of the colony. This gen- 
tleman was remarkable for his superior talents, his 
literary acquirements, and his polished manners. 
From these qualities of his friend Jefferson derived 
much benefit; for being thrown into frequent and 
kindly intercourse with the governor, he was enabled 
to improve himself by imitating so excellent a model. 
But Governor Farquier had other peculiarities which 
were not so commendable. These were his approval 
of infidel sentiments, both in philosophy and in re- 
ligion, and an excessive fondness for gambling. It 
is not improbable that the frequent conversations 
which occurred between Jefferson and his accom- 
plished friend may have resulted in a similarity of 
opinions to some extent, and may have laid the foun- 
dation for that boldness of speculation which charac- 



22 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ized Jefferson throughout his whole life. It does 
not appear, however, that he imitated the governor in 
his devotion to the vice of gaming. 

Mr. Jefferson was still a student of William and 
Mary College when the memorable dispute began be- 
tween Great Britain and the Colonies. A vouns; 
man of his superior intelligence would very naturally 
take a deep interest in such a controversy. Accord- 
ingly he embraced every opportunity to attend the sit- 
tings of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and lis- 
tened to the debates which there took place in ref- 
erence to the encroachments and prerogatives of the 
British monarch. It was in May, 1765, that he 
first heard the unrivalled and thrilling eloquence of 
Patrick Henry, the Mirabeau of the American Kevo- 
lution. Jefferson always contended that, during his 
whole subsequent life he had never listened to so 
powerful and so consummate an oration as Henry de- 
livered on that occasion. Whether this estimate of 
the oratorical abilities of this celebrated man was 
just, or whether much allowance should be made for 
the profound impression which such an unusual dis- 
play would make upon a young and susceptible per- 
son who was then unfamiliar with the triumphs of 
that great art, it is difficult now to determine. At 
any rate, the whole soul of Jefferson was then already 
enlisted in behalf of the independence and the rights 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 23 

of the colonies, and liis ardor in the cause continued 
from that period without abatement. 

At length having completed his studies at Wil- 
liam and Mary College, Jefferson returned to Shad- 
well. He employed his first leisure in making a 
journey to Philadelphia and l^ew York, the object 
of which was to obtain inoculation for the small-pox, 
and to enlarge his acquaintance with the colonies and 
their chief cities. He traveled three hundred miles 
in a one-horse chaise; and the inconveniences which 
attended locomotion at that period may be inferred 
from the fact that he was frequently drenched with 
rain, and was several times in danger of being 
drowned when fording the streams which had been 
swollen by the rains. 

Immediately on his return from this excursion, 
Jefferson was elected a justice' of the peace of Albe- 
marle county, having subsequently completed his le- 
gal studies under Mr. Wythe, and having been admit- 
ted to practice as an attorney in 1767. As already 
stated in the extract quoted from his ^^ Memoir," Jef- 
ferson established himself at Williamsburg. Seven 
years were passed by him in the quiet performance of 
his professional labors. He exhibited the same qual- 
ities as a lawyer which marked him previously as a 
student, and which adorned him subsequently as a 
statesman. He was not brilliant or showy in his 



24: LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

forensic efforts; but he was laborious, tborougb and 
learned. His manuscript notes gave abundant evi- 
dence that he jorepared his cases with the most patient 
research. He was gradually advancing to a prom- 
inent position among the ablest lawyers of Virginia, 
when the revolutionary struggle called him away to a 
higher and more important sphere.* As an orator, 
Jefferson could never have been eminent. His voice 
had neither compass, flexibility, or power. But as a 
writer and thinker his great superiority was clearly 
manifest on every occasion, and it was not without 
sufficient reason that he was subsequently selected 
from among the large body of able and distinguished 
men who composed the Continental Congress, to 
compose the immortal magna cliarta of a nation's 
freedom. 

When twenty-six years of age, in 1769, Jefferson 
was elected a member of the Virginia House of Bur- 
gesses f for the county of Albemarle. From the mo- 
ment that he entered this important body he became 
remarkable for his industry, his prominence, and the 

f The language of William Wirt on this subject is explicit : 
says he — " Permit me to correct an error which seems to 
have prevailed. It has been thought that Mr. Jefferson made 
no figure at the Bar ; but the case was far otherwise. There 
are still extant, in his own fair and neat hand, in the manner 
of his master, a number of arguments which were delivered 
by him at the Bar upon some of the most intricate questions 
of the law ; which, if they shall ever see the light will vindi- 
cate his claims to the first honors of the profession." 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 25 

decisive stand whicli he took either in the proposal or 
in the support of patriotic measures. Only a short 
time previous to this period, the British parliament 
had passed resolutions which severely condemned the 
stand which the Legislature of Massachusetts had 
taken against the growing encroachments of British 
tyranny. The Legislature of Virginia, on the receipt 
of this information, adopted a series of resolutions in 
which they boldly declared that the right to levy taxes 
in Virginia belonged exclusively to themselves; that 
they possessed, and that they should always exercise, 
the privilege of petitioning the king for a redress of 
grievances ; "and they further declared, that the trans- 
portation to England of persons accused of treason in 
the colonies, in order there to be tried, was illegal, un- 
constitutional, and unjust. In the discussion and 
the passage of these resolutions, Mr. Jefferson took a 
decided and prominent part. 

'No sooner were the resolutions passed than the 
governor, Lord Bottetourt, dissolved the Assembly. 
A crisis had at length arrived, and it now became the 
duty of the friends of liberty to take a resolute and 
determined course. Indecisive measures were no 
longer available. The next day a large number of 
the members of the dissolved legislature met at the 

* In Revolutionarj' times the title House of Burgesses was 
given to the lower or popular branch of the legislature. It is 
now called the House of Delegates. 



26 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Kaleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, and formed an as- 
sociation for tlie purpose of carrying forward and 
completing the movement which had already been 
begun. These persons pledged their honor not to 
import or purchase certain specified articles of Brit- 
ish merchandise, as long as the act of parliament au- 
thorizing the taxation of the colonies remained un- 
repealed. Eighty-eight members of the legislature 
signed this compact, and among the number were 
George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry 
Lee, and Thomas Jefferson. Thus w^as the first de- 
cisive stand taken in Virginia against British despot- 
ism by an association of patriots, the most prominent 
of whom were young men, whose names and abilities 
were as yet almost wholly unknown to tlie country. 

It was also during this first term of his service in 
the legislature, that Mr. Jefferson proposed the adop- 
tion of measures having reference to the subject of 
negro slavery. He did not urge the general manu- 
mission of the slaves, as has sometimes been asserted ; 
but he suggested that the restrictions which then 
existed, and which prevented owners from conferring 
freedom on their slaves when they even desired so to 
do, should be removed. Yet his efforts were fruit- 
less ; and it was only in 1782 that even this cautious 
and limited policy was allowed to prevail. 



CHAPTEK 11. 

Burning of Jefferson's Residence— His Marriage— Events of 
1773 — Proceedings in Rhode Island — Measures of the Vir- 
ginia House of Burgesses— Committees of Correspondence 
—British Aggressions— Steps of Resistance Taken in Vir- 
ginia—Activity of Mr. Jefferson— The Convention— Res- 
olutions Adopted by that Body — The " Summary View 
of the Rights of British America " — Delegates to the First 
Continental Congress — Jefferson's Resolutions in the Vir- 
ginia Legislature— His Answer to Lord North's Proposi- 
tion. 

The year 1770 opened with the occurrence of a 
personal calamity of no small moment to Mr. Jeffer- 
son. His residence at Shadwell, where he had spent 
his youth, and which was then the abode of his 
widowed mother, was burnt to the ground. This mis- 
fortune occurred during his absence, and his loss was 
not confined simply to the destruction of the edifice. 
His library, for which he had paid about a thousand 
dollars, and all his manuscripts, notes, and papers 
fell a prey to the flames. ISTot a solitary piece of 
writing remained. The loss of his law books was 
particularly severe, inasmuch as they could not be 
easily replaced, and that loss greatly exceeded their 
nominal value. 

The following letter was written by young Jef- 

27 



28 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ferson in reference to this calamity, to his intimate 
friend Page; throws much light upon the nature of 
his misfortune, and the feelings with which he en- 
dured it. 

" Chaelottesville, Feb. 21, 1770. 
" Dear Page : 

'^ I am to acquaint Mrs. Page of the loss of my fa- 
vorite pullet; the consequence of which will readily 
occur to her. I promised also to give her some Vir- 
ginia silk which I had expected, and I begin to wish 
my expectation may not prove vain. I fear she will 
think me but an ungainly acquaintance. My late 
loss may perhaps have reached you by this time; I 
mean the loss of my mother's house by fire, and in it 
of every paper I had in the world, and almost every 
book. On a reasonable estimate I calculate the cost 
of the books burned to have been £200 sterling. 
Would to God it had been the money, then had it 
never cost me a sigh ! To make the loss more sensi- 
ble, it fell principally on my books of Common Law, 
of which I have but one left, at that time lent out. 
Of papers too of every kind I am utterly destitute. 
All of these, whether public or private, of business 
or of amusement, have perished in the flames. I had 
made some progress in preparing for the succeeding 
General Court; and having, as was my custom, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 29 

thrown my thoughts into the form of notes, I troubled 
my head no more with them. These are gone, and 
like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a trace * 
behind. The records also, and other papers which 
furnished me with states of the several cases, having 
shared the same fate, I have no foundation whereon 
to set out anew. I have in vain attempted to recollect 
some of them ; the defect sometimes of one, sometimes 
of more circumstances, rendering them so imperfect, 
that I can make nothing of them. What am I to do 
then in April ? The resolution which the court has 
declared of admitting no continuances of cases seemed 
to be unalterable ; yet it might surely be urged, that 
my case is too similar to admit of their being often 
troubled with the like excuse. Should it be asked, 
what are the misfortunes of an individual to a court ? 
The answer of a court, as well as of an individual, if 
left to me, should be in the words of Terence, '' homo 
sum; liumani nil a me alienum puto " f — but a truce 
with this disagreeable subject. 

^^ Am I never more to have a letter from you ? 
Why the devil don't you write ? But I suppose you 
are always in the moon, or some of the planetary re- 
gions. I mean you are there in idea ; and unless you 



* The word should be *' wrack." 

f I am a man, and I deem nothing that relates to man a 
matter of indifference to me. 



30 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

mend, jou shall have my consent to be there de facto; 
at least, during the vacations of the Court of Assem- 
bly. If your spirit is too elevated to advert to sub- 
lunary subjects, depute my friend Mrs. Page to sup- 
port your correspondences. Methinks I should, with 
wonderful pleasure, open and peruse a letter written 
by so fair, and (what is better) so friendly hands. 
If thinking much of you would entitle me to the 
civility of a letter, I assure you I merit a very long 
one. If this conflagration, by which I am burned 
out of a home, had come before I had advanced so 
far in preparing another, I do not know but I might 
have cherished some treasonable thoughts of leaving 
these my native hills ; indeed I should be much hap- 
pier were I nearer to Eosewell and Severn hills — 
however, the gods, I fancy, were apprehensive that if 
we were placed together, we should pull down the 
moon, or play some such devilish prank with their 
works. I reflect often with pleasure on the philo- 
sophical evenings I passed at Eosewell in my last 
visits there. I was always fond of philosophy, even 
in its drier forms ; but from a ruby lip, it comes with 
charms irresistible. Such a feast of sentiment must 
exhilarate and lengthen life, at least as much as the 
feast of the sensualist shortens it — in a \Vord, I prize 
it so highly, that, if you vdW at any time collect the 
same Belle Assemhlee, on giving me three days pre- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 31 

vious notice, I shall certainly repair to my place as a 
member of it. Should it not happen before I come 
down, I will carry Sally Nicholas in the green chair 

to ^NTewquarter, where yonr periagna ^ (how the 

should I spell that word?) will meet ns, automaton- 
like, of its own accord. You know I had a wagon 
which moved itself — cannot we construct a boat then 
which shall row itself ? Amicus nostei\ Fons, quo 
modo agit, et quid agit? f You may be all dead for 
anything we can tell here. I expect he will follow 
the good old rule of driving one passion out by letting 
another in. Clavum clavo pangere :{: was your advice 
to me on a similar occasion. I hope you will watch 
his immersions as narrowly as if he were one of Ju- 
piter's satellites ; and give me immediate notice, that 
I may prepare a dish of advice. I do not mean. 
Madam, to advise him against it. On the contrary, 
I am become an advocate for the passion; for I too 
am coela tactus, Ciirrus bene se hahet.% He speaks, 
thinks, and dreams of nothing but his young son. 
This friend of ours. Page, in a very small house, with 
a table, half a dozen chairs, and one or two servants, 
is the happiest man in the universe. Every incident 

* A dug-out ; a canoe hewed out of a log. 
f Our friend, the Fountain, how does it act, and what does 
it accomplish ? 
X To drive in one nail with another. 
§ Being raised to the skies the chariot moves easily. 



32 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

in life lie so takes as to render it a source of pleasure. 
With as much benevolence as the heart of a man will 
hold, but with an utter neglect of the costly apparatus 
of life, he exhibits to the world a new phenomenon in 
philosophy — the Samian sage in the tub of the 
cynic. Xame me sometimes homunculo tuo, not for- 
getting little die mendacium.'^ I am determined not 
to enter on the next page, lest I should extend this 
nonsense to the bottom of that also. A dieu je vous 
commis, not doubting his care of you both." 

Nevertheless, he immediately set to work to remedy 
the misfortune as rapidly as possible. Several years 
then passed away in the performance of his profes- 
sional duties. On the 1st of January, 1772, he was 
married to Mrs. Martha Skelton, the widow of Bath- 
urst Skelton. She was the daughter of John 
Wayles, a prominent member of the Virginia Bar. 
This gentleman died in 1773, and left a large estate, 
one-third of which fell to the lot of Mr. Jefferson. 
This union proved to be a peculiarly happy one, and 
during many subsequent years became the source of 
the utmost domestic enjoyment to both parties. 

During 1772 the political storms which had pre- 
viously begun to agitate the country to some extent 
subsided, in consequence of the partial repeal of the 

* Your little man—tell a lie. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 33 

obnoxious duties formerly imposed by the British 
parliament, ^ew causes of discontent arose in 
Ebode Island, in 1773. A Court of Inquiry was 
held in that province, vested with power to send per- 
sons accused of treason to England for trial. It had 
already become the determined purpose of Jefferson, 
and a few congenial spirits in Virginia, to take ad- 
vantage of every occasion to keep alive the spirit of 
resistance to British tyranny in the colonies, as being 
preparatory to the final great act of entire and ab- 
solute separation. Accordingly, as soon as informa- 
tion of the proceedings of Rhode Island had reached 
Virginia, a few^ prominent members of the legisla- 
ture, then in session at Williamsburg, determined to 
bring this matter before that body. Previous to tak- 
ing this step, however, they met privately at the 
Raleigh Tavern, on the 11th of March, 1773, to de- 
liberate on the measures which it behooved them to 
adopt. The leaders of this movement were Jefferson, 
Patrick Henry, B. H. Lee, P. L. Lee, and Dabney 
Carr. These patriots adopted the plan of appointing 
Committees of Correspondence between the legisla- 
tures of the different colonies. The ultimate aim of 
these committees was to propose the meeting of depu- 
ties from all the colonies in a general Congress. Mr. 
Jefferson was appointed to draft a series of resolu- 
tions recommending to the legislature the appoint- 
3 



34 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ment of such committees ; and also another resolution 
requesting an inquiry to be made in reference to the 
obnoxious and tyrannical proceedings which had but 
recently occurred in Rhode Island. Mr. Dabney 
Carr was selected, in consequence of his superior ora- 
torical abilities, to offer the resolutions in the legis- 
lature, and to support them by his eloquence. 

Accordingly, on the next morning, the resolutions 
were proposed by Mr. Carr in the House of Bur- 
gesses, and were supported by him with extraordinary 
pathos and fervor. They were adopted unanimously 
on the same day. Mr. Carres support of these reso- 
lutions at once raised him to a high eminence among 
his distinguished associates ; and a very brilliant fu- 
ture was naturally predicted for him. But his name 
never once occurs again in the stirring history of those 
times. He died suddenly and unexpectedly only two 
months after the passage of the resolutions. 

But though Mr. Carr himself vanished so quickly 
from the scene, the influence and the rich results of 
his activity remained. The legislature was imme- 
diately dissolved by the governor in consequence of 
these events ; yet his measures were utterly important 
to stop the mighty tide of popular feeling which had 
already begun to flow. The committee of correspon- 
dence was immediately appointed. They organized 
themselves without delay, and commenced operations. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 35 

Thej prepared a circular, copies of whicli they ad- 
dressed to the chairmen of the legislatures of the 
various colonies, and these they dispatched, without 
delay, to their respective destinations by expresses. 
The consequence of these measures was, that similar 
committees of correspondence were appointed by all 
the different colonies ; a channel of direct communica- 
tion was thus opened between them ; an interchange of 
sentiment and of purpose took place ; energetic plans 
were discussed; unity of purpose was introduced; 
and the grand result followed that, in the ensuing 
year, the general Congress assembled to deliberate 
upon the great questions of political life and death, 
which then agitated the whole continent. 

It is true that the first idea of appointing a com- 
mittee of correspondence between the colonies was 
due, not to the patriots of Virginia, but to those of 
Massachusetts. In 1765, immediately after the pas- 
sage of the Stamp Act, the legislature of that State 
proposed a meeting of deputies from the several col- 
onies to consult together on their common difficulties. 
And subsequently, in 1770, a similar resolution was 
adopted by the same body. But it is also true, that 
these resolutions were in neither case practically 
carried out. They remained in substance a dead 
letter. But Virginia possesses the credit not only of 
following this excellent example, but also of being 



36 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

the first to execute the resolutions thus adopted. 
To Massachusetts belongs the honor of first suggesting 
this admirable plan of furthering the aims of free- 
dom; to Virginia that of giving that plan practical 
fulfillment and efficacy. 

Other difficulties soon arose between England and 
her incensed colonies. In consequence of the di- 
minution of trade between the two countries, a vast 
amount of tea had accumulated in the warehouses of 
the East India Company. This immense monopoly 
was a favorite of the British government ; and it ob- 
tained permission to transport their tea to the Ameri- 
can ports free of duty, on the unjust condition that, 
on its arrival at its destination, a duty of three-pence 
per pound should be paid. This unfair arrangement 
at once threw the inhabitants of Massachusetts into 
a state of intense indignation. The first cargo was 
totally dcstro3^ed in December, ITTS."^ As a measure 
of retaliation, the British government passed the Bos- 

* "The parliament took the tax off of nearly everything 
except tea. By releasing a part of the English duty on tea 
sent to America, the government arranged it so that the 
Americans, after paying a tax in America, would have their 
tea cheaper than before. The Americans were not contending 
for a little money, but for a principle, and they refused to re- 
ceive' the tea. Tlie}- began to drink tea made of sassafras- 
roots, sage, raspberry leaves, yaupon, and other American 
plants. Tlie Englisli government sent over consignments of 
tea to the principal ports. At Boston a company of fifty men, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 37 

ton Port Bill, by which that town was to be deprived 
of all its foreign trade from and after June, 1774. 
The Legislature of Virginia was in session when 
these events occurred. Mr. Jefferson was still a 
member. At his instance the small body of patriots 
who had convened on a previous occasion, were again 
summoned in order to determine upon the proper 
measures to be taken. He himself describes the events 
which took place at this crisis in the following lan- 
guage: 

" The lead in the House, on these subjects, being 
no longer left to the old members, Mr. Henry K. H. 
Lee, Fr. L. Lee, three or four other members, whom I 
do not recollect, and myself, agreeing that we must 
boldly take an unequivocal stand in the line of Massa- 
chusetts, determined to meet and consult on the 
proper measures, in the council chamber, for the ben- 
efit of the library in that room. We were under con- 
viction of the necessity of rousing our people from 

disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships and emptied 
three hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the sea. This 
is known as the " Boston Tea Party." In New York the 
people emptied a private consignment of tea into the water, 
and the ships which were sent by the government they com- 
pelled to go back to England. Philadelphia also sent the tea- 
ships home again. In Charleston the tea was landed, bnt 
purposely stored in damp cellars, where it rotted ; and at An- 
napolis, a ship that had paid the duty on a private consign- 
ment of tea, was burned in the harbor." — Eggleston. 



38 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

tlie lethargy into whicli they had fallen, as to passing 
events ; and thonght that the appointment of a day of 
general fasting and prayer, would be most likely to 
call up and alarm their attention. J^o example of 
such a solemnity had existed since the days of our 
distresses in the war of '55, since which a new genera- 
tion had grown up. With the help, therefore, of 
Eushworth, w^hom we rummaged over for the revolu- 
tionary precedents and forms of the Puritans of that 
day, preserved by him, ive coohed up a resolution, 
somewhat moderating their phrases, for appointing 
the 1st day of June, on which the Port Bill was to 
commence, for a day of fasting, humiliation, and 
prayer; to implore Heaven to avert from us the evils 
of civil war, to inspire us Avith firmness in the sup- 
port of our rights, and to turn the hearts of the king 
and parliament to moderation and justice." 

This important instrument was duly presented to 
the legislature, and it was passed without opposition 
on the 24th of May.* But the patriots did not stop 
with this decisive step. They passed a resolution to 

* Immediately after this event, the British governor, Lord 
Dunsmore, entered the House, and spoke as follows : — "Mr. 
Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses — I have in 
my hand a paper publislied by order of your House, conceived 
in such terms as reflect highly upon his Majesty and the 
Parliament of Great Britain, which makes it necessary to dis- 
solve you — and you are dissolved accordingly." As usual, the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 39 

recommend to the counties of the State to elect dele- 
gates who should meet in the ensuing August and se- 
lect representatives for the State in the Continental 
Congress. In pursuance of this resolution, delegates 
were chosen to meet in convention. Mr. Jefferson 
was one of these. He prepared a draft of instruc- 
tions to be given to the congressional representatives 
who would be chosen, which he termed " A Summary 
View of the Rights of British America. '^ This paper, 
was addressed to the king, and contained a clear and 
powerful exposition of the political relations which 
existed, and ought to exist, between the colonies and 
the mother country. It was in consequence of the 
composition of this pamphlet, that Mr. Jefferson was 
threatened by Lord Dunsmore with a prosecution for 
treason, and his name was included in a list of pros- 
criptions by the British ministry, intended for future 
prosecution and punishment. 

Mr. Jefferson w^as prevented by a sudden attack of 
illness from attending the convention which assem- 
bled in Williamsburg in August, 1774. This was 
the first popular or republican legislative assembly 
which ever met in Virginia, without the authority of 
government, and at the call of the popular will. 
Though absent from its sessions, Mr. Jefferson sent 

whole assembly repaired immediately to the Apollo Hall in 
the Raleigh Tavern, and resumed their deliberations. 



40 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

his Instructions to Patrick Henry and Peyton Ran- 
dolph, for the purpose of having them submitted to 
the convention. A copy was laid on the table for the 
inspection of the members, and it was read with much 
interest. But the measures of retaliation and resis- 
tance which it proposed were thought to be, at that 
stage of the conflict, too extreme and excessive. They 
were therefore not adopted ; but they were printed 
by an order of the convention, and were subsequently 
widely diffused. In this production Mr. Jefferson 
took the ground that the relation between the colonies 
and Great Britain was the same as the relation be- 
tween that country and Scotland after the accession 
of James, or between England and Hanover after the 
accession of the reigning house of the latter country 
to the British throne ; that they had the same execu- 
tive chief, but no other necessary political connec- 
tions ; and that the emigration of English subjects to 
America, gave the British monarch no more right 
over them, than the emigration of the Danes and 
Saxons to England gave to the Danish and Saxon 
monarchs over Englishmen. In substance, there- 
fore, Mr. Jefferson first announced, in this able doc- 
ument, the great republican doctrine that there should 
be no taxation without representation — a doctrine af- 
terward more clearly and ably stated by him in the 
Declaration of Independence. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 41 

The labors of this convention consisted chiefly in 
passing resolutions to the following effect: — 'Not to 
import any British merchandise after the 1st of No- 
vember ensuing ; to import no slaves ; to use no more 
tea; to purchase no East India goods; to export no 
more tobacco, but to encourage its home manufac- 
ture ; to improve the breed of sheep ; to contribute to 
the relief of the people of Boston; and that the 
speaker of the convention be empowered to convene 
the members again at such time and place as he might 
think proper. The convention then elected delegates 
to represent the State of Virginia in the Continental 
Congress. These men were chosen with the care and 
deliberation which the importance of the occasion re- 
quired. Peyton Randolph was selected in conse- 
quence of his superior acquaintance with the rules of 
parliamentary proceedings. George Washington was 
recommended by his military talents and experience. 
Richard Henry Lee was chosen for his great elo- 
quence ; Patrick Henry for the same reason ; Edward 
Pendleton for his profound learning as a lawyer; 
Benjamin Harrison because he represented the 
Tvealthy planters ; and Richard Bland in consequence 
of his ability as a writer. 

Mr. Jefferson was not elected as a delegate to the 
first Continental Congress ; but during the year 1775 
he was not inactive in the legislature of his native 



42 J^IFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

State. At the request of Peyton Randolph, who had 
been chosen President of Congress, he drew tip the 
answer of the General Assembly of Virginia to the 
conciliatory proposals which had been made by Lord 
iTorth, and which finally passed the House, with some 
softening amendments. Mr. Jefferson was subse- 
quently appointed by the house to convey to the con- 
gress assembled at Philadelphia, the result of their 
action and deliberations, which duty he performed 
on the 21st of June, 1775. 

Thus far the mental activity and the patriotism 
of Mr. Jefferson had been confined in their operation 
to the comparatively limited sphere of his native 
province. He was still a young man of thirty-two 
years ; yet he had taken an honorable place, by virtue 
of his great talents and acquirements, among the 
leading men of the Old Dominion. In truth, he had 
been the most radical and resolute of the reformers 
in that State, the fiercest foe to British tyranny, the 
most extreme and uncompromising of all the patriots. 
It was he who had declared in the Convention of Vir- 
ginia, which assembled for the second time on the 
20th of March, 1775, that "by the God that made 
him, he would cease to exist before he yielded to such 
a connection with England, and on such terms as the 
British Parliament propose." It was he who had 
proclaimed that " his creed had been formed on un- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 43 

sheathing the sword at Lexington." It was he who 
supported a resolution which was proposed in this 
convention by Patrick Henry, that the colony should 
immediately be put in a state of defense, and that a 
committee be appointed to prepare a plan to arm and 
discipline a body of effective troops. This was the 
daring and desperate resolution which was earnestly 
opposed by Pendleton, Harrison, ^N^icholas, and 
Wythe — patriots of the purest virtue — because they 
thought it ultra and too decisive. But in spite of 
their opposition this resolution was carried by means 
of the powerful influence of Jefferson and Patrick 
Henry, and was ultimately executed. But in all 
these noble achievements, the talents and patriotism 
of Jefferson had been confined to a comparatively 
limited sphere. A man of such enlightened views, 
of such bold determination, of such fierce hostility to 
despotism, of such devotion to popular freedom, only 
needed a more enlarged and elevated sphere of ac- 
tivity to give him a distinguished place in the history 
of his time and of his country. Such an opportunity 
was soon afforded him; and it may with truth be 
said that, among all the distinguished men of the 
Revolution, he who was the bitterest and most uncom- 
promising foe to British tyranny and prerogative, 
and he who was most determined, impetuous and re- 



44 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

solved in accomplishing their overthrow in these col- 
onies, was none other than Thomas Jefferson. 

This fact was especially evinced in his answer to 
the " Conciliatory Propositions " of the British min- 
ister, Lord ]N'orth. This document, addressed to the 
colonies, was specious, insidious, and crafty in the ex- 
treme. But Jefferson, who was appointed on the 
Committee of the House of Burgesses to answer it, 
could not be imposed upon by its artful declamation. 
He penetrated its real character, stript its infamous 
propositions of their false and fallacious coverings, 
exposed its cruelty and injustice, and gave it a blow 
from which it never recovered. This was the last 
service which Jefferson performed for the cause of 
freedom in his native State. On the 24th of June, 
1775, the House adjourned; and it was the last As- 
sembly which ever convened under the authority of 
the British monarch in the colony of Virginia. The 
governor, fearing an outburst of popular indignation, 
fled from his palace on board a British man-of-war, 
and his authority was never again recognized by the 
inhabitants of the colony. This was the loss of the 
first province, which was followed subsequently by 
the defection of the whole continent, and by their hos- 
tile and triumphant attitude against the supremacy 
of the mother country.. 



CHAPTEE III. 

Mr. Jefferson Elected a Member of Congress— His Ap- 
pointment on Important Committees — His Reports — Mr. 
Dickinson of Pennsylvania — Mr. Jefferson Prepares a 
Constitution and DeclaratioD of Rights for Virginia — The 
Legislature of Virginia Recommends a Declaration of 
Independence — Mr. Jefferson's Influence in Congress — 
Resolution of Richard Henry Lee— Mr. Jefferson Drafts 
the Original Declaration of Independence — State of Parties 
in Congress— Adoption and Promulgation of the Declara- 
tion—Excitement Throughout the Colonies on the Subject 
— Literary Merits of the Declaration — Its Historic In- 
fluence and Importance— Mr. Jefferson's Opinion Respect- 
ing it — Its Future Influence. 

Before the adjournment of the second session of 
the popular convention of Virginia, it became neces- 
sary for them to elect a delegate to the Continental 
Congress in place of Peyton Randolph, who, as 
speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, would 
soon be required to return to his native State. Ac- 
cordingly in May, 1775, Mr. Jefferson was elected to 
fill the place of Mr. Randolph; and on the 21st of 
June he took his seat in the Continental Congress. 
He was then thirty-two years of age ; and he brought 
to this high sphere in which he was destined after- 
ward to act so eminent and distinguished a part, very 

45 



46 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

considerable reputation for abilities, industry, and 
devotion to the cause of freedom and progress. 

Tbis reputation procured bim an appointment on 
tbe committee instructed to prepare a report on tbe 
" Cause of taking up Arms against England," five 
days after bis entrance into Congress. Tbe portion 
of tbe report of tbis committee wbicb Mr. Jefferson 
was requested to prepare, bas been frequently quoted 
and admired for its beauty of style, and for tbe clear- 
ness and boldness witb wbicb it treats tbe subject.* 
On tbe 22d of July be was again bonored witb an ap- 
pointment on a committee witb Dr. Franklin, Mr. 
Adams, and K. H. Lee, to prepare an answer to Lord 
IN'ortb's resolutions. Mr. Jefferson penned tbis im- 
portant document. It sets fortb in powerful lan- 
guage tbe fundamental doctrine tbat tbe colonies 

* Mr. Dickinson of Pennsylvania was a member of this 
committee, and he seems to have been the croaking owi of the 
Continental Congress. He opposed all expressions of vigorous 
resistance, or of open denunciation, in the reports of the com- 
mittees ; and it was he who, alone of all the members of 
Congress, subsequently refused to sign the Declaration of In- 
dependence. When the committee on the " Cause of taking 
up Arms against England " reported, their report had been 
softened down so completely by the trembling appeals of Mr. 
Dickinson, as scarcely to amount to anything. On its passage 
he remarked, that there was only one word in it of which he 
yet disapproved, and that word was "Congress." Mr. 
Harrison instantly rose and said, that there was but one word 
in the document of which he did approve, and that was 
" Congress," 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 47 

alone have the privilege of granting or withholding 
their own money ; and that this also involves the right 
of inquiry into its application, of determining its 
amount, and of applying it to proper uses; and it 
condemns the propositions of Lord l^orth, because 
they do not propose the repeal of the oppressive 
statutes which had been passed. The tone and spirit 
of this report differ very essentially from those of the 
report of the committee to which Mr. Dickinson be- 
longed. They were bold, resolute and defiant, and 
marked clearly an important step in advance among 
that immortal band of patriots who were destined to 
achieve the freedom of the nation. It was the pas- 
sage of this report, written by Mr. Jefferson, then 
the youngest member of Congress save one, which cut 
off forever all hope of conciliation and union between 
the colonies and Great Britain. From that moment 
a desperate conflict was inevitable. 

Mr. Jefferson had been elected to Congress by the 
Legislature of Virginia in August, 1775, and subse- 
quently was re-elected in June, 1776. During his 
absence from his native State, he was not forgetful of 
her interests. The regal authority had been already 
dissolved in that colony. A popular government had 
been quietly substituted. But no settled form for the 
administration of the government had been adopted. 
This then was the first task which demanded the at- 



4:8 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

tention of her patriots. A convention accordingly as- 
sembled at Williamsburg, on the 6th of May, 1776, 
for the purpose of adopting a declaration of rights 
and a constitution. On the 15th of May, after pre- 
vious deliberations, a committee was appointed to re- 
port on the subject. Mr. George Mason was the lead- 
ing member of that committee. On the 29th of June 
the constitution which they reported, after ample dis- 
cussion, was adopted. But during this interval Mr. 
Jefferson had not been idle. He himself had pre- 
pared a form of constitution for the consideration of 
the house, together with a preamble, declaration of 
rights, and an entire plan of government. These im- 
portant documents he sent to Mr. Wythe, but they ar- 
rived too late for the consideration of the house. 
They had already discussed and adopted a complete 
form of government, and had agreed upon a declara- 
tion of rights. Nevertheless some use was made of 
the valuable labors of Mr. Jefferson. Two or three 
parts of his plan were added to that already passed, 
and the entire preamble which accompanied his own 
form of government was adopted and added to that 
which had already received the legislative sanction. 
George Mason was the author of the declaration of 
rights. This constitution and declaration were unan- 
imously adopted on the 29th of June, 1776, and thus 
was established the first institution of free govern- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 49 

ment, by a written compact, which existed in the new 
world. Virginia ^^ was the first of the nations of the 
earth," sajs Mr. Jefferson, speaking of this event, 
" which assembled its wise men peaceably together to 
form a fundamental constitution, to commit it to 
writing, and place it among their archives, where 
every one should be free to appeal to its text.'' 

But this session of the convention in Virginia is 
rendered remarkable by another act, which possesses a 
national and not a local interest. They passed a res- 
olution ^^ that the delegates appointed to represent 
Virginia in General Congress be instructed to propose 
to that respectable body to declare the United Colo- 
nies free and independent States, absolved from all al- 
legiance to or dependence on the crown or parliament 
of Great Britain ; and that they give the assent of this 
colony to such declaration, and to whatever measures 
may be thought proper and necessary by the Congress 
for forming foreign alliances, and a confederation of 
the colonies, at such time and in the manner as to 
them shall seem best: provided that the power of 
forming governments for, and the regulation of, the 
internal concerns of each colony, be left to the re- 
spective colonial legislatures." 

Thus rapidly and steadily were the representatives 
of the nation approaching the decisive moment and 
the irretrievable deed, which were to decide the fate 
4 



50 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of so many millions of human beings. And it must 
be conceded that, in this perilous and immortal race, 
Mr. Jefferson holds no secondary place. He, though 
one of the youngest members of Congress, though he 
had much at stake, though he could not be unmindful 
of the many and great dangers which clustered 
around his path, yet he did not hesitate. He was un- 
questionably the boldest, most determined, and most 
radical member of the national representation. 
Others pulled back, hesitated, and deprecated haste 
and rashness. He constantly urged forward, en- 
deavored to inflame the minds of his associates with 
extreme hostility to England, and with unconquerable 
resolution to overthrow her supremacy in the colonies. 
Accordingly, on the 28th of May, 1776, he moved in 
Congress that " an animated address be published to 
impress the minds of the people with the necessity of 
now stepping forward to save their country^ their 
freedom, and their property." He was appointed 
chairman of this committee ; and he prepared an ad- 
dress whose temper and spirit were in accordance with 
this resolution, and which was admirably adapted to 
prepare the way for the grand and decisive step which 
was about to follow. 

As soon as the delegates from Virginia received 
the instructions of the legislature of that State, in 
reference to making a declaration of national free- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 51 

dom, they prepared to execute them. Richard Henry 
Lee was the oldest and the most eloquent memher of 
the Virginia delegation. Accordingly it fell to his 
lot to perform this responsible and honorable duty; 
and on the Yth of June, 1776, he rose in Congress, 
then sitting in the State House in the city of Phila- 
delphia, and moved that " Congress should declare 
that these United States are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent states; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British crown ; that all po- 
litical connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; that 
measures should be immediately taken for procuring 
the assistance of foreign powers, and that a confed- 
eration be formed to bind the colonies more closely 
together. 

The consideration of this resolution was postponed 
imtil the next day. It was then taken up and de- 
bated for several successive days. Messrs. Adams, 
R. H. Lee, Wythe, Jefferson, and others, were in 
favor of the resolution. Messrs. Wilson, Robert Liv- 
ingston, Rutledge and Dickinson opposed it. All the 
arguments of the latter gentleman, however, except 
as a matter of course those of Mr. Dickinson, applied 
only to the most suitable period of passing such a 
resolution, and not to the abstract propriety or neces- 
sity of the act. 



52 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

As unanimity of sentiment on the subject did not 
seem then to prevail, it was deemed advisable to post- 
pone a final vote on the resolution until the 1st of 
July, but a committee was appointed in the meantime 
to prepare a document which might be appropriate to 
the purpose contemplated. At this crisis Mr. Lee 
received information of the dangerous illness of a 
member of his family. He was compelled imme- 
diately to leave Congress, and could not serve upon 
the committee which was about to be appointed, nor 
act as its chairman, as he would have been entitled to 
do as the mover of the resolution. A committee was 
then selected by the house, which chose the following 
persons: John Adams, Dr. Franklin, Koger Sher- 
man, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. As 
Mr. Jefferson had received the highest number of 
votes, he was appointed president of the committee, 
and thus was the preparation of the most illustrious 
and important state paper of all ages entrusted to his 
hands. After its preparation it was submitted pri- 
vately to the examination of Dr. Franklin and Mr. 
Adams. They made a few minor alterations, and 
then it was examined before the whole committee. It 
received their unanimous approval, and on Friday, 
the 28th of June, Mr. Jefferson reported it to Con- 
gress. It was read, and then ordered to lie on the 
table. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 53 

On the first of July the house resolved itself into a 
committee of the whole, and resumed the discussion 
of the preliminary question, whether a declaration of 
independence should be made. After a long debate 
this question was carried in the affirmative. All the 
States represented in Congress voted in its favor, ex- 
cept Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Delaware 
was represented by only two members, and as they 
were divided in sentiment, her vote was indecisive. 
The delegates from New York requested permission 
to withdraw, in consequence of the fact that they had 
received no instructions from their constituents on 
the subject. The final vote on the resolution was 
taken on the 2d of July. On this ballot South Caro- 
lina voted affirmatively; an additional delegate had 
arrived from Delaware, which gave the voice of that 
State in the same way; the representatives of I^Tew 
York had received instructions to give their influence 
in favor of the measure and Pennsylvania had hap- 
pily changed some of her representatives during the 
interval. A unanimous vote was therefore obtained 
at last in favor of the original motion, to declare the 
colonies independent of British rule. 

Much more difficulty was experienced when the 
discussion of the Declaration itself which the com- 
mittee had prepared, came before the house. Great 
violence and intense excitement prevailed. Every 



54 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

clause and every expression were rigidly critised. 
Every sentiment uttered and every principle an- 
nounced were fiercely combatted and assailed. Inch 
by inch was the great battle fought, on the issue of 
which depended such vital and inestimable interests. 
The clause condemning the slave trade was struck out 
in accordance with the peremptory demands of South 
Carolina and Georgia. The whole amount which 
was eventually erased, equalled one-third of the or- 
iginal composition. The battle raged for three days, 
during which the most intense excitement prevailed. 
John Adams especially distinguished himself by his 
eloquent support of the document in its unaltered 
state. Mr. Jefferson, thirty-seven years afterward 
described Mr. Adams as having been a colossus on the 
floor of the house on this great occasion, and in debate 
powerful and convincing in the highest degree. It 
became evident that it would only be by a spirit of 
compromise that unanimity could finally be obtained. 
In effecting these compromises, several of the best 
passages of this remarkable production were erased. 

The Declaration as thus amended in committee of 
the whole was reported to the house on the 4th of 
July. On this daj^ it was adopted, and signed by 
every member then present, excepting one. The 
recusant was the pusillanimous member from Penn- 
sylvania, Mr. Dickinson. Other representatives, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 55 

who happened on that day to be absent, appended 
their signatures at subsequent periods. On the 20th 
of July, Pennsylvania elected five new representa- 
tives, omitting Mr. Dickinson from the number, and 
all of these subsequently signed. The ignominious 
eminence of being the only person in the whole Con- 
tinental Congress who shrank from the glory and the 
danger of giving his influence in favor of this im- 
mortal declaration, belongs to the discarded represen- 
tative from Pennsylvania. On the 19th of July it 
was ordered to be engrossed ; and on the 2d of August, 
after having been carefully compared and verified by 
the original, the parchment was again signed with all 
those whose names were appended to the manuscript 
copy. 

Thus was consummated the most memorable event 
of modern times ; an event, the influence of which on 
the destinies of the world in all climes, has exceeded 
in importance that of any other event, and which 
through all coming ages will be the subject of congrat- 
ulation to countless millions of freemen. 

It would be difficult to find among the most re- 
nowned and felicitous productions of the human in- 
tellect, one which has higher claims to admiration 
than this Declaration. Its chief merit consists in its 
admirable adaptation to the purpose for which it was 
intended. It is indeed remarkable for the polish 



56 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

and beauty of its language, for its clearness and force 
of expression. But its directness, its comprehensive- 
ness, and its condensation of thought are higher 
merits still. Within the narrow compass to which it 
is necessarily confined, it utters volumes of ponderous 
and unanswerable truth. It is a singular and admir- 
able combination of argument, of pathos, of vindica- 
tion, and of invective. It is pathetic enough to enlist 
the warmest sympathies of the reader, and it is ar- 
gumentative enough to convince his reason. It is 
not more pathetic than is necessary, lest its authors 
might seem to have been defective in argument ; and 
it is not too argumentative, lest a suspicion might be 
excited that its authors were conscious that the weak- 
ness of their cause required an elaborate defense. Its 
style is declamatory, but not sufficiently so as to ren- 
der it vulgar or undignified ; while at the same time 
its manly dignity does not degenerate into haughti- 
ness. Had it been more condensed, it might have 
become either obscure or flippant. Had it been more 
expanded, it might have lost in vigor and directness. 
The very best evidence which can be adduced in favor 
of its claims to admiration and approval, is the uni- 
versal judgment which the civilized world has passed 
upon its merits. The highest encomium which can 
be bestowed upon it, is to assert that it is a production 
worthy of the memorable occasion with which it was 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 57 

connected, and whose matchless glories it aided so 
effectually to increase and to perpetuate. Had Jef- 
ferson accomplished nothing more during his long life 
of eighty-three years than elaborate this immortal 
document, he would have deserved to he held in honor- 
able remembrance for ages to come; and having ac- 
complished this noble task, it is venturing nothing to 
say that his name will be forever safe from the com- 
mon oblivion, and will be numbered among the bright 
catalogue of the world's greatest heroes until the la- 
test period of recorded time. 

On the 8th of July the Declaration of Independ- 
ence was publicly promulgated in Philadelphia, and 
rapidly the glorious news of its adoption spread 
through the whole country. It was received with 
transports of joy by many millions, and throughout 
the whole length and breadth of the continent a uni- 
versal frenzy of delight prevailed. The declaration 
was published in ISTew York on the 11th, in presence 
of the American army there assembled; and was 
greeted with the utmost pomp and splendor of mili- 
tary pageantry. When the news arrived in Boston, 
the public excitement became unparalleled. All the 
civil authorities, the military, and a vast multitude 
assembled in front of the Capitol, where the document 
was read, and was received with the most enthusiastic 
plaudits. An immense banquet was afterward given, 



58 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

at which innumerable toasts were drank in praise of 
liberty, and in denunciation of tyrants. During the 
ensuing night every ensign of royalty, and every 
badge of kingly power which existed in Boston, was 
defaced and removed. 

Similar scenes occurred throughout all the colonies. 
In Virginia the name of the king was erased by an act 
of the legislature from the liturgy of the established 
religion. All the emblems of the fallen monarchy 
were at once obliterated ; and a new coat of arms was 
ordered for the rising commonwealth, just then 
emerging from chaos into a vigorous and splendid 
existence. This commendable example was followed 
in all the remaining States. The declaration seemed 
to have inspired new life into the hearts of patriots, 
and to have steeped the spirits of the minions of des- 
potism in despair. 

Mr. Jefferson was himself fully conscious of the 
importance of the event which had just taken place, 
and of the high dignity of the drama in which he 
had acted so prominent a part. He regarded the 
proclamation of the declaration of American inde- 
pendence as the great starting point in the race for 
freedom in modern times; as the initial step in the 
emancipation of all civilized nations from the supre- 
macy and the outrages of despots. It was in his 
judgment the first chapter in a glorious history. It 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 59 

was the summons which spoke in thunder-tones to the 
cringing millions who were yet slumbering in the 
dark night and gloom of tyranny, inviting them to 
arouse, to shake off their shackles, to assert their long 
plundered rights, and their dignity as men, and to 
achieve their liberties. ISTor were these anticipations 
disappointed. The noble example thus set before the 
world was not lost. The leaven soon began to work 
vigorously in the mighty mass of humanity. France 
was the first nation to follow this example; but she 
followed it after a fashion of her own, and her en- 
deavors were marked by the peculiarities of the na- 
tional character. To the declaration of American in- 
dependence may justly be attributed, as their ulti- 
mate and original cause, all the revolutionary move- 
ments which have since occurred, with such various 
successes and with such conflicting and dissimilar in- 
cidents, in Poland, in Italy, in Hungary, in Spain, 
in Germany, and in Central and Southern America. 
And it is scarcely hazarding too much to say, that 
the potent influence of the example given and of the 
principles inculcated by this declaration, will con- 
tinue to operate until republican freedom and republi- 
can governments will replace all the rotten thrones 
and despotic institutions which now afflict and dis- 
grace the world. Such is the inherent and uncon- 
querable power of truth! 



CHAPTER IV. 

Mr. Jefferson Declines a Re-election to Congress — Results of 
His Labors in Congress — Appointed Commissioner to 
France — He Declines — He Takes His Seat in the Legis- 
lature of Virginia — He Proposes a Law for the Reorgani- 
zation of the Courts of Justice — He Proposes a Law for 
the Abolition of Entails— He Proposes a Bill to Overthrow 
the Established Church in Virginia — Fierce Conflicts 
Which Ensued — The Final Result — Jefferson's Ultimate 
Triumph — Establishment of Absolute Religious Freedom 
in Virginia — Mr. Jefferson Obtains the Passage of a Law 
Abolishing the Foreign Slave Trade in Virginia — History 
of that Reform in Foreign Countries. 

Mk. Jefferson's term of service in the Continen- 
tal Congress expired on the 11th of August, 1776. 
Before the arrival of that period he had notified the 
convention of Virginia that he declined a re-election, 
i^evertheless that body chose to act contrary to his 
wishes, and he was again unanimously reelected. 
This result did not alter his own purpose, and he 
again wrote to the chairman of the convention, re- 
fusing positively the proffered honor. Two causes 
induced him at this period to withdraw from the na- 
tional councils. One of these was the necessity which 
existed that he should attend to his private affairs at 

60 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 61 

home. But the chief reason was a desire to partici- 
pate in the formation of the new constitution and gov- 
ernment which were about to be formed and adopted 
in Virginia. Says he : " The new government in 
Virginia was now organized, a meeting of the legisla- 
ture was to be held in October, and I had been elected 
a member by my county. I knew that our legisla- 
tion, under the royal government, had many very 
vicious points which urgently required reformation; 
and I thought I could be of more use in forward- 
ing that work. I therefore retired from my seat in 
Congress." On the 2d of September, 1T76, Mr. Har- 
rison, his successor, arrived at"Philadelphia, and Jef- 
ferson immediately returned to Virginia. The 
period of his actual presence in the national councils 
had been only nine months ; and yet at the early age 
of thirty-three he had taken the first rank among the 
leading patriots of the colonies; he had led their 
opinions and moulded their measures ; and he had im- 
pressed the stamp of his genius and of his principles 
upon the great title deeds and symbols of the nation's 
rights and liberties. 

On the 30th of September he received another evi- 
dence of the confidence with which he had inspired 
the members of the Continental Congress. They ap- 
pointed him a joint-commissioner to France, with 
Dr. Franklin and Silas Dean, to negotiate treaties of 



62 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

alliance and commerce witli that government. This 
was a trust of the greatest importance to the interests 
of the nation; and yet so earnest was the desire of 
Mr. Jefferson to superintend and assist in the estab- 
lishment of the new government and constitution of 
his native State, that he again declined an honorable 
appointment which would have interfered with the 
realization of his wishes on that subject. 

We have now reached that period in the life and 
labors of Mr. Jefferson when he ceased to be an ex- 
ponent and representative of national measures, and 
assumed the attitude of the founder of a new and dis- 
tinct school of politics, and when he began the pro- 
posal and defense of doctrines which have justly won 
for him the epithet of the '^^ Father of American Dem- 
ocracy.''^ This course, it will be seen, he consistently 
pursued throughout the many years of high official 
position which marked his subsequent life. 

Mr. Jefferson took his seat in the Legislature of 
Virginia on the 7th of October, ,1776. Five days 
afterward he moved for leave to introduce a bill for 
the reorganization and establishment of the courts 
of justice. He was appointed chairman of the com- 
mittee to whom the matter was referred ; and he drew 
up an ordinance, which he submitted to the commit- 
tee. They approved of all its provisions. It was 
then reported to the house, by whom, after a thorough 



LIFE OF TPIOMAS JEFFERSON. 63 

and careful examination, and the introduction of a 
few unimportant changes, it was unanimously 
adopted. 

The provisions of the law^ prepared by Mr. Jeffer- 
son possess the qualities of simplicity, symmetry, and 
the spirit and form of republicanism. But in ad- 
dition to these it may also claim the merit of great 
originality ; for although a similar arrangement exists 
in the judicial institutions of other States at the 
present time, that proposed by Mr. Jefferson was the 
model after which they have all been drawn and exe- 
cuted. He divided the State into counties, and de- 
vised three courts of ascending grades, called the 
County, the Superior, and the Supreme Courts. The 
jurisdictions of these courts, and their relative num- 
ber, were found admirably adapted to meet all the 
wants of the community. He gave new prominence 
and importance to the trial by jury, as the great bul- 
wark of the rights of the people. He ordained that 
in all questions of law and of fact combined, as well 
as in all pure questions of fact, the reference to a jury 
was made imperative and unavoidable in the courts of 
law; and he would have carried this principle also 
into the Courts of Chancery, had he not,in this move- 
ment, been opposed and defeated by the efforts of 
Edmund Pendleton, the ablest lawyer in the State, 
who was opposed to the extreme measures of popular 



64 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

reform introduced by Mr. Jefferson. The chief fea- 
tures of the law on this subject, as proposed by Mr. 
Jefferson, remain in force in Virginia till the present 
day. 

On the 12th October Mr. Jefferson continued his 
labors by introducing a bill for the abolition of the 
law of entails in Virginia. This was a measure of 
much greater importance than the preceding one. It 
was a desperate and destructive blow struck directly 
at the aristocratic order in that State. Nowhere else 
on the continent had the lines of demarcation between 
the higher and the lower ranks, between the gentle 
and the vulgar, between the exclusive and the popular, 
been drawn with so much distinctness as in the Old 
Dominion. And that distinction was based not sim- 
ply on differences of education, birth, and breed- 
ing ; but also on the more unpopular one of the posses- 
sion of wealth. The State having been settled at an 
early period by a body of men who had embraced the 
privileges granted them of taking vast tracts of the 
free domain of nature — these estates had become im- 
mensely valuable with the progress of time, and in 
accordance with the English law of entail, they had 
been devised from generation to generation in fee-tail 
to the eldest son of the family. This aristocratic 
transmission of estates had gradually created a body 
of men who formed a patrician order in the State, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 65 

whose wealth, luxury, and expensive and ostentatious 
establishments were little in harmony with the sim- 
plicity of republican manners. Together wdth the 
possession of the land, this class of men gradually ab- 
sorbed all the political power, which only increased 
the evil, and rendered the state of things more obnox- 
ious to the friends of liberty and reform. 

If this aristocratic class of the community were 
useless to the State, the other existing orders of so- 
ciety in Virginia were such, that some of them in- 
vited, and others of them demanded, a reformation 
on this subject, ^ext below the great landowners, 
in the social and political scale, were the class known 
as " half-breeds." These were the descendants of 
the younger sons and daughters of the aristocrats, who 
inherited the pride without the wealth or the in- 
fluence of their ancestors. Below these again were 
the upstarts, or pretenders, who were usually men of 
talent, and having obtained wealth by means of their 
superior enterprise and abilities, were desirous of 
separating themselves from the class in which they 
were born and to which they originally belonged, and 
of imitating the manners and habits of the aristoc- 
racy, and if possible to obtain admission to their so- 
ciety. Below these again were the plain, substantial 
yeomen, who were industrious, simple, frugal, who 
knew nothing and cared less about aristocratic splen- 



QQ LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

dor, rank, or wealth, and whose whole attention was 
confined to the cultivation of the small farms which 
thej possessed, or to their mechanical trades. Below 
all these again, and the vilest of the race, were the 
class of persons termed " overseers," who tyrannized 
over the slaves, who were the most cringing of human 
beings to their superiors, and the most tyrannical to 
their subordinates and victims. 

By abolishing the law of entails in Virginia, Mr. 
Jefferson destroyed the entire fabric of this social 
structure; for the whole of it gradually grew up 
around, and in consequence of that institution. His 
purpose was also to open the way for an aristocracy 
of intellect and talent, as being more in accordance 
with the spirit of a republic. And although this 
measure was resisted with the utmost violence by the 
representatives of the aristocratic order in the legis- 
lature, led on by men of the highest ability — such as 
Edmund Pendleton and John Robinson, the measure 
was finally adopted. Entails were abolished, and a 
law passed by which real estate, as well as personal 
property was distributed, on the death of the pos- 
sessor in equitable proportions among the whole of 
his children. Mr. Jefferson also subsequently intro- 
duced another bill, which rendered this reform com- 
plete, which destroyed the preference given to the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 67 

male over the female sex, and to the eldest child over 
the younger children.^ 

After accomplishing this great republican move- 
ment, which gave a new appearance and form to the 
secular and material interests of the State, Mr. Jef- 
ferson directed his attention to the religious relations 
and interests of the community. He introduced a 

* Mr. Jefferson describes his labors in reference to this event 
in the following language : 

" On the 12th, I obtained leave to bring in a bill declaring 
tenants in tail to hold their lands in fee simple. In the earlier 
times of the colony, when lands were to be obtained for little 
or nothing, some provident individuals procured large grants ; 
and desirous ot founding great families for f^emseZt;es, settled 
them on their descendants in fee tail. The transmission of 
this property from generation to generation, in the same 
name, raised up a distinct set of families, who being privileged 
hy law in the perpetuation of their wealth, were thus formed 
into a patrician order, distinguished by the splendor and 
luxury of their establishments. From this order, too, the 
king habitually selected his counselors of state ; the hope of 
which distinction devoted the whole corps to the interests 
and will of the crown. To annul this privilege, and instead 
of an aristocracy of wealth, of more harm and danger than 
benefit to society, to make an opening for the aristocracy of 
virtue and talent, which nature has wisely provided for the 
direction of the interests of society, and scattered with equal 
hand through all its conditions, was deemed essential to a 
well-ordered republic. To effect it, no violence was necessary, 
no deprivation of natural right, but rather an enlargement of 
it, by a repeal of the law. For this would authorize the pres- 
ent holder to divide the property among his children equally, 
as his affections were divided ; and would place them, by 
natural generation, on the level of their fellow-citizens." 



eS LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

bill to abolish the church establishment in Virginia, 
and to place all religions sects on an equal footing. 
/' The establishment of the Church of England in 

I Virginia had taken place at the period of the first 
immigration thither. The charter granted to Sir 
Walter Raleigh contained an express clause, which 
provided that the laws of the new colony to be 
founded by him, should in no respect militate against 
the true Christian faith as then professed by the 
Church of England, and established by law in the 
realm. At an early day the colony had been divided 
into parishes, and in each parish a minister had been 
settled, a church built, a glebe and parsonage as- 
signed, and a support provided for the incumbent 
from the proceeds of a specified amount of tobacco. 
Schismatics were severely punished. It was a penal 

[ / offense in parents to prevent their children from 
being baptized by the minister of the established 
church. The assembling of Quakers was forbidden 
by law ; and they had been ordered to leave the State, 
with the penalty of death if they returned. In 1705, 
a law had been passed to the effect that he who denied 
the truth of the Christian religion, or the existence 
of the Trinity, or the inspiration of the Scriptures, 
should be incapable of holding any ofiice, civil, mili- 
tary, or ecclesiastical, and should further suffer three 
years' imprisonment. Even the Declaration of 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 69 

Eights, passed in 1776, had not abolished and oblit- 
erated these infamous enactments ; although the legis- 
lature, in that year, had been overflowed with the 
most urgent petitions from thousands of respectable 
and influential citizens asking their repeal. In the 
progress of the several centuries which preceded this 
date, the morals of the established clergy had become 
a by-word and a disgrace to the Christian name. 
They were, in the majority of instances drunken, idle 
and debauched, dimerous dissenters of intelli- 
gence, piety, and wealth had gradually immigrated 
into the State ; and at the period of Mr. Jefferson's 
activity in the legislature, they formed an important 
portion of the community. The Presbyterians es- 
pecially had attained a high position in point of im- 
portance, wealth and social influence, in many por- 
tions of the commonwealth. 

With this large class of citizens the labors of Mr. 
Jefferson met with much favor. They supported 
him with numerous petitions to the legislature. The 
opposing faction, long secure in its prerogatives, and 
undisturbed in its domination, awoke from its leth- 
argy, fiercely fought against the project of change, 
and presented numerous memorials against the pro- 
posed reforms. Many arguments w^ere urged by the 
supporters of the established religion, the most cogent 
of which was that the Episcopal clergy had entered on 



70 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

their livings with the understanding, on the part of 
the government, that they should hold them for life; 
and that, though the form of government had been 
changed, yet the tenure of these rights was as sacred 
as that by which the citizens held their private prop- 
erty. 

The conflict between the advocates of conservatism 
and progress in the legislature was violent in the ex- 
treme. Mr. Jefferson describes the struggles as hav- 
ing been the most furious in wdiich he had ever en- 
gaged. Xor were the efforts of his opponents with- 
out effect ; for so vigorous was their resistance that 
they compelled him to change his position from the 
absolute to the partial abolition of the establishment. 
He eventually succeeded in obtaining the passage of a 
law, which removed the penalty which had formerly 
been inflicted for maintaining irreligious opinions, 
for refusing to attend church, and for the exercise 
of any otlier than the established mode of religious 
worship. He also obtained the exemption of dis- 
senters from contributing to the support of the es- 
tablished church. But Mr. Jefferson was not a man 
to yield in the full accomplishment of his purposes, 
to any degree of opposition. He accordingly per- 
sisted in his endeavors for three successive years, un- 
til at last, by unwearied exertions, he succeeded in at- 
taining his end in the final passage of law which 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 71 

enacted that no general assessment should be estab- 
lished by law, on any one, either for the support of 
the Church of England, or for that of other sects ; but 
that every one should be permitted to exercise his own 
free will in reference to the maintenance of any form 
of religious service. The passage of this law not only 
overthrew the power of the Church of England in 
Virginia, but it established religious liberty on the 
fullest and largest basis. It is true that he was at 
that time not a member of the legislature, but the 
governor of the State ; yet it wajj well understood that 
the final triumph of the measure was secured through 
his influence, by his assistance, and in accordance 
with his wishes. 

The next measure of reform proposed by Mr. Jef- 
ferson had reference to the slave-trade. His opin- 
ions on this important subject were that the emanci- 
pation of the slaves, accompanied with their coloniza- 
tion, was practicable. But his efforts at the period 
were not directed to the attainment of this result; 
for he undoubtedly perceived that the period for the 
accomplishment of so radical a measure had not yet 
arrived. But he proposed a law abolishing the 
foreign slave-trade ; and in the attainment of this re- 
sult he was eminently useful and successful; a law 
making the foreign slave-trade piracy having finally 
passed the legislature in 1778, 



72 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

The honor of having led the van in this great re- 
form, among all the nations of the earth, belongs to 
Virginia ; and the honor of having proposed and ac- 
complished this result in Virginia belongs to Mr. Jef- 
ferson. The practise of priority in this matter has 
long been claimed for Mr. Wilberforce, and for Great 
Britain; but the claim is unjust. It was in 1791 
that Mr. Wilberforce introduced his bill to abolish 
the Foreign Slave Trade into the English parliament. 
He failed in carrying his motion through both 
branches of the legislature, during fourteen succes- 
sive years; until he triumphed at last on the 25th of 
March, 1807. In March, 1792, Denmark passed a 
similar law, interdicting the slave trade on the part 
of Danish subjects after January, 1803. Sweden 
passed a similar law in 1813; [N'etherland in 1814. 
Bonaparte forbade the traffic in 1815. Spain fol- 
lowed with a prohibitory decree in 1816, to take ef- 
fect in 1820; and Portugal did the same in 1828. 
Thus it appears that the credit of leading the way in 
this great and beneficent revolution belongs to Vir- 
ginia, acting under the promptings and guidance of 
Thomas Jefferson ; inasmuch as her statute on the 
subject was passed, and went into full and perma- 
nent operation in 1778, and consequently long prior 
to any of the rest. 



CHAPTER V. 

Proposition to Codify the Laws of Virginia-A Committee 
Appointed for the Puvpose-Mr, Jefferson's^Port.on of he 
Task-Changes in the Law of Descents-Clmnges m the 
Criminal Latv-Meeting of the Committee-Tl.e.r Eeport 
to the Legislature-Leading Reforms Introduced by Mr 
Jefferson into the Code-Religious Freedom- Abol.t.on of 
Slavery-General System of Educat.on-The Capt ve 
Army of Burgoyne Quartered at Charlottes. lUe-Popnlar 
ExciLment-Useful and Benevolent Activity of Jefferson 
in Reference to the Captives. 

Mr. Jeffeesos deserves to occupy the first place 
among the eminent men who have labored to repul> 
licanize the institutions of America, both those of the 
Federal government and those of the States. Having 
succeeded in introducing the important reforms into 
Virc^inia which have been described in the foregoing 
chapter, he proceeded on the 24th of October, 1776, 
to introduce a bill providing for the appointment of a 
committee of five persons, who should prepare a new 
code of laws for the government of the State, by re- 
vising, amending, and repealing what already existed, 
or by adding new enactments thereto. This measure 
was in substance providing for the erection of an en- 
tirely new system of laws in the State, and the total 

To 



74 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

destruction of the civil, political, and religions insti- 
tutions of the past. 

The committee appointed bj the joint ballot of 
both houses of the legislature to perform this im- 
portant task, were Mr. Jefferson as chairman, Ed- 
mund Pendleton, George "Wjthe, George Mason, and 
Thomas Ludwell Lee. So important were the duties 
entrusted to this committee supposed to be, that the 
legislature excused Mr. Wythe from his attendance 
in Congress, in order to enable him to perform the 
more responsible labors which devolved upon him as a 
member of this committee. The committee ap- 
pointed their first meeting at Fredericksburg on the 
ensuing 13th of January, for the purpose of making a 
distribution of the respective portions of their onerous 
work. 

When the committee met, the arrangement which 
was adopted threw the most difiicult and laborious 
portion of the work on the shoulders of Mr. Jeffer- 
son. To him was committed the codification of the 
Common Law and of the British statutes down to the 
period of James I., when a separate legislature was 
first introduced into Virginia. The same statutes 
from the reign of James I. to the then existing period 
were committed to Mr. Wythe. The statutes of Vir- 
ginia already in existence were consigned to Mr. Pen- 
dleton. The two remaining members of the commit- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 75 

tee resigned without taking any share in the work, on 
the ground that they were not lawyers, and therefore 
not competent to the duties which would devolve upon 
them. 'No substitutes were ever appointed in their 
place ; and the whole of this immense labor was per- 
formed, in about two years, by the three remaining 
members of the committee. 

The department qf crimiaal law and the law of de- 
scents both fell within the range of Mr. Jefferson's 
task ; and he embraced the opportunity thus afforded 
to impress upon both, the peculiar sentiments which 
he entertained on those subjects. In speaking of his 
labors in a letter to Mr. Wythe, in IsTovember, 1778, 
he said: " In style I have aimed at accuracy, brevity 
and simplicity, preserving 'however tlie very words of 
the established law, whether their meaning had been 
sanctioned by judicial decisions or rendered technical 
by usage. The same matter, .if couched in modern 
statutory language, Avith all its tautologies, redun- 
dancies, and circumlocutions, would have spread itself 
over many pages, and been unintelligible to those 
whom it concerns." When re-enacting English 
statutes he took care not to change their ancient dic- 
tion, lest he should give rise to new disputes by intro- 
ducing new phraseology; at the same time avoiding 
all useless amplification of language. 

In regard to the criminal law, Mr. Jefferson 



76 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

adopted the fundamental rule to recommend penal- 
ties not repugnant to benevolence, to abolish the bar- 
barous remains of ancient usages and punishments, 
and to inflict death only for the crimes of murder 
and treason. At that period the penal code of Eng- 
land affixed the penalty of death to two hundred dif- 
ferent offenses. The humanity therefore which Mr. 
Jefferson recommended was at that time the more re- 
markable, as it was so far in advance of the age in 
which he lived. 

The changes which he introduced into the law of 
descents were radical and extreme. He proposed to 
abolish the law of j^rimogeniture, and to make real 
estate heritable in equal partition by the next of kin, 
as personal property already was by the statute of 
distribution. This project, which harmonized with 
the acts of the legislature already adopted on the sub- 
ject, was violently opposed by Mr. Pendleton, who 
was also one of the committee ; but Mr. Jefferson per- 
sisted in his purpose, and introduced this reform 
fully and prominently into the new code. 

After the continued labors of two years the com- 
mittee assembled in February, 1779, at Williams- 
burg, to review, approve, and consolidate their re- 
spective labors into one general and complete report. 
Day after day the several parts were read, examined, 
criticised, altered, amended, and confirmed, accord- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 77 

ing to the decision of the majority of the committee. 
They had embodied in their labors all the Common 
Law, all the British statutes, and all the existing laws 
of Virginia; and had condensed this vast mass of 
jurisprudence into a single printed folio volume of 
ninety pages only, compromising one hundred and 
twenty-six bills., 

On the 18tk of June, 1779, the committee of re- 
vision reported the results of their labors to the gen- 
eral assembly. These were not adopted in a mass, 
but single portions were taken up from time to time, 
discussed and approved. It was not till 1785, after 
the conclusion of the Eevolutionary war, that the 
whole code had received the sanction of law. The 
peculiar and most remarkable principles which Mr. 
Jefferson elaborated, and incorporated into this code, 
were important in the highest degree, and indicate 
the great originality and boldness of his views. In 
addition to the repeal of the law of entails which he 
introduced into the code, and the abrogation of the 
law of primogeniture, together with the equal division 
of inheritances among children, he asserted the right 
of expatriation, or a republican definition of the 
terms on which aliens may become citizens, and citi- 
zens may make themselves aliens. He also proposed 
the establishment of religious equality and liberty 
upon the broadest foundation. He advised the eman- 



78 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

cipation of all the slaves born in Virginia after the 
passage of the act, and their colonization or deporta- 
tion at a proper age. This measure was entirely 
stricken out by the legislature. He recommended the 
abolition of capital punishment in all cases except 
treason and murder ; and the graduation of all other 
punishments upon the principle of humanity and 
reason. He devised the establishment of a systematic 
plan of general education, reaching to all classes of 
the citizens, and adapted to every grade of capacity. 
This portion of his labors was not carried into effect 
by the legislature. 

The act providing for the establishment of relig- 
ious freedom is the most remarkable and praise- 
worthy of all Mr. Jefferson's productions, except the 
Declaration of Independence; and it exhibits the 
largeness and liberality of his views in the most im- 
pressive manner. It was the work which stood sec- 
ond in the author's own estimation of all his labors ; 
and he proudly ordered that a reference to it should 
be inscribed upon his tombstone. It was all the 
more creditable to him from the fact that in this mat- 
ter he w^as in advance of his age ; for it was with very 
considerable difficulty that he succeeded in obtaining 
its passage by the legislature. 

That portion however of Mr. Jefferson's labors as 
a codifier in which he took the greatest interest, which 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. ^^ 

met with the fiercest opposition, and in the estab- 
lishment of which he was totally defeated, had ref- 
erence to the domestic slave-trade. He himself de- 
clared that on that subject he could scarcely write or 
speak temperately. His proposed law provided that 
after a certain period all negroes born in the State 
should be free, and afterwards at an adult age be 
transported to some foreign colony. As his opinions 
on this subject are of great interest and importance, 
the following extract from his own writings are 
quoted. It was penned at the age of seventy-seven, 
and shows that the progress of many years had made 
no change in his sentiments. Says he : '' The prin- 
ciples of the amendment, however, were agreed on in 
the committee, that is to say, the freedom of all born 
after a certain day, and deportation at a proper age. 
But it was found that the public mind would not yet 
bear the proposition, nor will it bear it even at this 
day, (1821.) Yet the day is not distant when it 
must bear and adopt it, or worse will follow. Noth- 
ing is more certainly written in the hooh of fate than 
that these people are to he free; nor is it less certain^ 
that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the 
same government. ISTature, habit and opinion, have 
drawn indelible lines of distinction between them. 
It is still in our power to direct the process of emanci- 
pation and deportation, peaceably, and in such slow 



80 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

degree, as that the evil will wear off insensibly, and 
their place be, pari passu, filled up by free white la- 
borers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force itself 
on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held 
up. We should in vain look for an example in the 
Spanish deportation or deletion of the moors.* This 
precedent would fall far short of our case." 

The bill providing for the introduction of a general 
system of education contains three prominent and re- 
markable divisions. It proposed the establishment 
of elementary schools throughout the State, for all 
children generally, without distinction of rich or poor. 
It recommended the erection of colleges, or more 
properly speaking, of academies in each district, to 
impart a middle range of instruction. It advised 
the creation and endowment of a general university, 
wherein the highest and ultimate grade of instruction 
should be given. An addition which he added to 
this bill called for the establishment of a public li- 
brary, and a gallery for the exliibition of paintings 

* " After the capture of Granada by Ferdinand in 1492, the 
Moors who desired still to remain in Spain were required to 
accept the outward form of Christianity and to be baptized. 
* * * The atrocious cruelty with which these poor people were 
treated after every solemn promise had been broken by the 
Catholic party is a grievous blot on the memory of Ferdinand 
and his successors." An account of this outrage will be 
found in Presoott's Ferdinand and Isabella, Part II., chapter 
vii. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 81 

and sculptures.* The first portion only of the bill, 
providing for the establishment of elementary schools, 
received the approbation of the legislature. 

Having concluded his labors as a codifier, and hav- 
ing obtained the authority of law for a large portion 
of his bills, Mr. Jefferson's agency as a legislator for 
the present ceased. 'Nov should it be forgotten that 
these elaborate researches were carried on, and these 
legislative reforms were effected, at a period when 
the whole country, and Virginia particularly, was 
convulsed by the vicissitudes of a desperate, pro- 
tracted and uncertain conflict. The storms of the 
revolutionary war were then raging, and many dark 
and gloomy hours harassed the spirit of this faithful 
and devoted servant of the popular interests and su- 
premacy. But none of these things diverted his at- 
tention from the important task which he had as- 
sumed. To this day the laws, legislation and juris- 
prudence of Virginia bear upon their front the deep 
and ineffaceable impress of the master mind and the 
indefatigable industry of Thomas Jefferson. 

In January, 1779, an incident occurred of a more 
personal nature, which serves to illustrate clearly the 
qualities of Mr. Jefferson's disposition, and which 
proves that his views of reform and amelioration were 
not theories merely, but were substantial and practi- 

* Most of these benefits planned by Jefferson may be found 
in the M'ddle and Western states to-day. 




82 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

cal realities. After the capture of Burgojne by Gen- 
eral Gates, four thousand British troops became pris- 
oners of war. At iirst they were quartered at Boston. 
After twelve months they were removed to Charlottes- 
ville in Virginia, six miles from Monticello. The ar- 
rival of these troops threw the inhabitants of that dis- 
trict into the utmost terror. They feared that the 
presence of this large force would lead to a famine. 

Mr. Jefferson immediately exerted himself to quell 
the popular excitement. He assisted in the erection 
of capacious barracks, in establishing suitable accom- 
modations for the officers, and in providing rations 
for the troops. Soon the residence of the prisoners 
became the abode of comfort and contentment. He 
frequently entertained the officers at Monticello. His 
large and valuable library was at their disposal. 
Gradually the presence of these captive troops was 
found to be a great advantage and profit to the sur- 
rounding planters, and universal contentment 
reigned. At this period Patrick Henry, then Gov- 
ernor of the State, formed the resolution to order the 
removal of these troops from Charlottesville to an- 
other location. This step would have been exceed- 
ingly impolitic and unwise. The whole community 
revolted against it, loud complaints were made both 
by the people and by the troops, and a riot was ap- 
prehended. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 83 

!St this crisis Mr. Jefferson addressed an energetic 
appeal to Governor Henry, urging the relinquish- 
ment of the proposed change, at great length. The 
governor and his council carefully deliberated on the 
arguments of Mr. Jefferson, and finally concluded to 
acquiesce in his views. His agency in this matter 
won for him the enthusiastic applause of the whole 
people in the neighborhood of Monticello, and es- 
pecially the officers of the British troops, who, having 
derived so many advantages from the proximity of 
Mr. Jefferson, were intensely grateful. Some of these 
were Hessians, and many years afterward, when Mr. 
Jefferson was traveling in Germany, he had the pleas- 
ure of meeting some of these officers again, and of 
receiving their demonstrations of gratitude and es- 
teem. When the foreign officers eventually left 
Charlottesville, they addressed letters of acknowl- 
edgment to their benefactor, which indicated how 
greatly they considered themselves under obligations 
to him. 

The communication addressed by Mr. Jefferson on 
this occasion to Governor Henry, is so characteristic 
in its style and spirit, that we will here introduce a 
portion of it. It is as follows : 

" It is for the benefit of mankind to mitigate the 
horrors of war as much as possible. The practice, 
therefore, of modern nations of treating captive ene- 



84 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

inies with politeness and generosity, is not only de- 
lightful in contemplation, but really interesting to all 
the world, friends, foes, and neutrals. Let us apply 
this : the officers, after considerable hardships, have 
all procured quarters, comfortable and satisfactory to 
them. In order to do this, they were obliged, in 
many instances, to hire houses for a year, certain, 
and at such exorbitant rents, as were sufficient to 
tempt independent owners to go out of them, and 
shift as they could. These houses, in most cases, 
were much out of repair. They have repaired them 
at a considerable expense. One of the general offi- 
cers has taken a place for two years, advanced the 
rent for the whole time, and been obliged, moreover, 
to erect additional buildings, for the accommodation 
of a part of his family, for which there was not room 
in the house rented. Independent of the brickwork, 
for the carpentry of these additional buildings I 
know he is to pay fifteen hundred dollars. The 
same gentleman, to my knowledge, has paid to one 
person three thousand six hundred and seventy dol- 
lars, for different articles, to ^x himself commo- 
diously. They have, generally, laid in their stocks of 
grain, and other provisions ; for it is well known that 
officers do not live on their rations. They have pur- 
chased cows, sheep, &c. ; set into farming ; prepared 
their gardens, and have a prospect of quiet and com- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 85 

fort before them. To turn to the soldiers — the en- 
virons of the barracks are delightful, the ground 
cleared, laid off in hundreds of gardens, each inclosed 
in its separate paling; these well prepared, and ex- 
hibiting a fine appearance. General Riedesel alone 
laid out upward of two hundred pounds in garden 
seeds for the German troops only. Judge what an 
extent of ground these seeds would cover. There is 
little doubt, that their own gardens will furnish them 
with a great abundance of vegetables through the 
year. Their poultry, pigeons, and other preparations 
of that kind, present to the mind the idea of a com- 
pany of farmers, rather than a camp of soldiers. In 
addition to the barracks built for them by the public, 
and now very comfortable, they have built great num- 
bers for themselves, in such messes as fancied each 
other; and the whole corps, both officers and men, 
seem now happy and satisfied with their situation. 
Having thus found the art of rendering captivity it- 
self comfortable, and carried it into execution, at 
their own great expense and labor, their spirits sus- 
tained by the prospect of gratifications rising before 
their eyes, does not every sentiment of humanity re- 
volt against the proposition of stripping them of all 
this, and removing them into new situations, where, 
from the advanced season of the year, no prepara- 
tions can be made for carrying themselves comfort- 



SQ LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ably througli the heats of summer; and when it is 
known that the necessary advances for the conven- 
iences already provided, have exhausted their funds, 
and left them unable to make the like exertions 
anew ? " 



CHAPTEK VI. 

Mr. Jefferson Elected Governor of Virginia — His Measures of 
Retaliation upon the British — Arrest of Henry Hamilton 
— Washington Approves of Jefferson's Measures — Tarlton's 
Invasion of Virginia — Jefferson's Activity — His Letter to 
Washington — Attack of the British on Richmond — 
Schemes to Capture Arnold — Their Failure — Attempt of 
the British to take Jefferson at Monticello — His Escape — 
Efforts made to Impeach Jefferson in the Legislature — 
Their Defeat — Jefferson's Defense of his Official Acts. 

On withdrawing from the legislature of Virginia, 
Mr. Jefferson was complimented with the highest 
trust within their gift. He was elected governor of 
the State. This event took place on the 1st of June, 
1779. 

One of the first steps which the new governor took 
was of a retrihutory nature toward the fierce and im- 
placable foes who were then ravaging the land, labor- 
ing to crush the liberties of the people, and striving 
to destroy their military defenders. The generous 
example of their conduct toward the captive army of 
Burgoyne, was now totally lost upon them. The 
American officers and soldiers who had been taken 
prisoners were loaded with chains. They were con- 

87 



88 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

fined in crowded and filthy dungeons and prison 
ships. Their food was pernicious and detestable. 
Many had been transported, tried, convicted, and 
punished in England. Mr. Jefferson determined at 
this crisis to try the effect of a just severity upon those 
prisoners then in his power, in order to soften the 
measures pursued by the foe. The cruel and rapa- 
cious governor of Detroit, Henry Hamilton, was then 
in the hands of the Americans, together with Philip 
Dejean, a justice of the peace of Detroit, and William 
Lamotte, a captain, all of whom had been taken pris- 
oners by Col. Clarke at Fort Vincennes, and brought 
under guard to Williamsburg. These men had been 
notorious for their great barbarity toward the Ameri- 
cans. Hamilton especially had been unequalled for 
his crimes of blood. He had spurred on the Indians 
to acts of the utmost cruelty to the settlers ; and to in- 
crease the number of murders he had given a high re- 
ward for scalps, and had refused all rewards for pris- 
oners. All of these men had rendered themselves no- 
torious for the scalping parties which they had or- 
ganized and led over the frontier settlements, in 
which excursions they had butchered, with indiscrim- 
inate ferocity, men, women, and children.* 

To punish these villains, and to strike a wholesome 
terror into their former associates, Mr. Jefferson or- 

* See Jefferson's Works. Vol. I. , Appendix, note A. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 89 

dered that they should be put in irons, confined in a 
dungeon in the public prison, deprived of all use of 
pen, ink and paper, and be forbidden to hold com- 
munication with any one except their keepers. 

These decisive steps received the unqualified ap- 
probation of General Washington. He thought it 
highly desirable that at least one solemn proof should 
be given, that the patriots of the Revolution could be 
just as well as generous. That proof could again be 
repeated, should a repetition be deemed advisable. 
The first effect which these measiires produced upon 
the British was to retaliate. They published a dec- 
laration that no officer of the Virginia line should be 
exchanged as long as Hamilton and his friends re- 
mained in captivity. As soon as Jefferson received 
information of this resolution, he ordered all ex- 
change of British prisoners to be stopped. He in- 
tended to retain them as pledges for the security of 
the captive patriots. A prison ship was fitted up for 
their especial accommodation. Special means were 
used to ascertain the kind of treatment the Americans 
received at the hands of their captors. The final re- 
sult of this retaliative process on both sides was pre- 
cisely such as Mr. Jefferson had anticipated. The 
appeals of the British prisoners to their own country- 
men became so urgent and so pertinacious, that the 
latter were at last compelled to yield, to treat the 



90 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

American captives with the humanity required by the 
laws of civilized warfare, and by so doing to secure 
the comfort of those minions of the British despot 
who had fallen into the hands of the patriots. 

The period of the memorable invasion of Virginia 
by the notorious Tarlton * now arrived. His path- 
way through the young commonwealth was marked 
by blood and rapine. Terror spread rapidly through- 
out the whole community ; but the prevalence of ter- 
ror did not prevent those who were in imminent dan- 
ger from arousing themselves to energetic deeds of 
fortitude and self-defense. At this crisis very great 
responsibility lay upon Mr. Jefferson as the chief 
magistrate of the State. He employed all his in- 
fluence and abilities to provide proper means of pro- 
tection against the common foe. He called upon the 
legislature to act with promptness and decision. 
That body immediately clothed the governor with ex- 
traordinary powers. The summer of 1779 passed 
away in repeated alarms, and in hurried prepara- 
tions for resistance. On the 11th of June Mr. Jef- 
ferson addressed the following letter to General 



* Sir Banistre Tarleton (1754-1833) though notorious for 
his cruelty, was skilful and brave. After his return to Eng- 
land he was elected to parliament and was honored with the 
rank of K. C. B. He was the author of the History of the 
Campaigns of 1780-81, etc," 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 91 

Washington, advising him of the critical state of af- 
fairs in the State, and the surrounding colonies : 

^' Our intelligence from the southward is most la- 
mentably defective. Though Charleston has now 
been in the hands of the enemy nearly a month, we 
hear nothing of their movements which can be relied 
upon. Rumors say they are penetrating northward. 
To remedy this defect, I shall immediately establish 
a line of expresses from hence to a neighborhood of 
their army, and send thither a sensible, judicious per- 
son, to give us information of their movements. This 
intelligence will, I hope, be conveyed at the rate of 
one hundred and twenty miles in the twenty-four 
hours. They set out to their stations to-morrow. I 
wish it were possible that a like speedy line of com- 
munication could be formed from hence to your ex- 
cellency's head-quarters. Perfect and speedy infor- 
mation of what is passing in the south, might put it 
in your power perhaps to frame your measures by 
theirs. There is really nothing to oppose the enemy 
northward, but the cautious principle of the military 
art. ^orth Carolina is without arms. They do 
not abound with us. Those we have are freely im- 
parted to them; but such is the state of their re- 
sources that they have not been able to move a single 
musket from this State to theirs. All the wagons we 
can collect here have been furnished to the Baron de 



92 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Kalb, and are assembled for the march of 2500 men 
under General Stevens, of Culpepper, who will move 
on the 19th inst. I have written to Congress to 
hasten supplies of arms and military stores for the 
southern States, and particularly to aid us with cart- 
ridge paper and boxes, the want of which articles, 
small as they are, renders our stores useless. The 
want of money cramps every effort. This will be 
supplied by the most unpalatable of all substitutes, 
force. Your excellency will readily conceive that, 
after the loss of one army, our eyes are turned toward 
the other, and that we comfort ourselves with the 
hope that, if any aids can be furnished by you, with- 
out defeating the operations more beneficial to the 
Union, they will be furnished. At the same time, 
I am happy to find that the wishes of the people go 
no further, as far as I have an opportunity of hearing 
their sentiments. Could arms be furnished, I think 
this State and ]^orth Carolina would embody from 
ten to fifteen thousand militia immediately, and more 
if necessary. I hope ere long to be able to give you a 
more certain statement of the enemy's as well as our 
own situation." 

On the 30th of December Mr. Jefferson received 
information that twenty-seven British ships had en- 
tered the capes of Virginia on the preceding day. 
He immediatelv sent General I^elson * to the loweir 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 93 

counties of the State, for the purpose of calling out 
the militia. The fleet proceeded up James river. 
On the 3d of January, 1780, it anchored at James- 
town. At Westover one thousand men were landed 
under the command of the traitor Arnold, and they 
proceeded at once toward Richmond. This was a 
complete surprise; for no attack at that point had 
been expected, and all the militia had been marched 
to Williamsburg. The legislature immediately dis- 
persed. When the British were at Four Mile Creek, 
twelve miles from Richmond, Mr. Jefferson also de- 
serted the capital at seven o'clock at night. He pro- 
ceeded to join his family at Tuckahoe, eight miles 
from Richmond. There he remained until the ap- 
proach of the enemy compelled him to retreat to 
Manchester. While halting at this place he was 
visited by some of the citizens of Richmond, who 
conveyed an offer from Arnold not to burn the town, 
provided the tobacco there deposited was delivered up 
to the possession of the foe. This offer was instantly 
rejected. As soon as Arnold reached Richmond, he 
destroyed the cannon foundry, and a large quantity of 
tobacco as well as many public and private buildings 
were burned. He then returned to his ships after an 
excursion of forty-eight hours ; and committing deeds 

* General Thomas Nelson (1738-89) was one of the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence. In 1781 he became 
governor of Virginia, 



94 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

which will involve his name in eternal infamy, as the 
foe and assailant of his native land. Immediately 
after the departure of Arnold from Richmond, Mr. 
Jefferson devised a scheme for the capture of the 
traitor. He addressed the following letter to Gen- 
eral Muhlenberg on the subject: 

" Sir : Acquainted as you are with the treasons of 
Arnold, I need say nothing for your information, or 
to give you a proper sentiment of them. You will 
readily suppose that it is above all things desirable to 
drag him from those under whose wing he is now 
sheltered. On his march to and from this place, I 
am certain it might have been done with facility, by 
men of enterprise and firmness. I think it may 
still be done, though perhaps not quite so easily. 
Having peculiar confidence in the men from the wes- 
tern side of the mountains, I meant, as soon as they 
should come do\vn, to get the enterprise proposed to a 
chosen number of them, such whose courage and 
whose fidelity would be above all doubt. Your per- 
fect knowledge of these men personally, and my con- 
fidence in your discretion, induce me to ask you to 
seek from among them proper characters, in such 
numbers as you think best ; to reveal to them our de- 
sire ; and engage them to undertake to seize and bring 
off this greatest of all traitors. Whether this may be 
best effected by their going in as friends, and await- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 95 

ing their opportunity, or otherwise, is left to them- 
selves. The smaller the nmnber the better, so that 
they may be sufficient to manage him. Every neces- 
sary caution must be used on their part, to prevent a 
discovery of their design by the enemy. I will un- 
dertake, if they are successful in bringing him off 
alive, that they shall receive five thousand guineas re- 
ward among them ; and to men formed for such an en- 
terprise, it must be a great incitement to know that 
their names will be recorded with glory in history, 
with those of Vanwert, Paulding, and Williams.'' 

The guilty fears of Arnold rendered him doubly 
cautious, and the plan of his capture was not success- 
ful. ISTevertheless Jefferson was not disheartened, 
but devised a second trap in which he was to receive 
the assistance of General Washington and the French 
fleet. That plan was to block up the river by means 
of the land and naval forces of the patriots as to 
completely hem in the foe, and eventually to secure 
his capture. But the arrival of a British squadron 
of superior size drove the French fleet from the Chesa- 
peake, and again defeated the plan of Jefferson for 
the capture of the arch-traitor. 

Arnold having retreated from Virginia, Lord Corn- 
wallis immediately afterward entered the State from 
the south. The legislature convened at Charlottes- 
ville on the 28th of May, and soon began to discuss 



96 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

and adopt measures of vigorous resistance. The very 
day the legislature assembled, Mr. Jefferson ad- 
dressed the following letter to General Washington : 

" I have just been advised, he says, that the British 
have evacuated Petersburg, been joined by a consid- 
erable reinforcement from ISTew York, and crossed 
James River at Westover. They were, on the 26th 
instant, three miles advanced toward Richmond, at 
which place Major-General the Marquis Lafayette 
lay w4th three thousand men, regulars and militia, 
that being the whole number we could arm, until the 
arrival of the 1100 stand of arms from Rhode Island, 
which are about this time at the place where our 
public stores are deposited. The whole force of the 
enemy within the State, from the best intelligence I 
have been able to get, is, I think, about 7000 men, in- 
cluding the garrison left at Portsmouth. A number 
of privateers, which are constantly ravaging the 
shores of our rivers, prevent us from receiving any 
aid from the counties lying on navigable waters ; and 
powerful operations meditated against our western 
frontier, by a joint force of British and Indian sav- 
ages, have, as your excellency before knew, obliged us 
to embody between two and three thousand men in 
that quarter. Your excellency will judge from this 
state of things, and from what you know of your own 
country, what it may probably suffer during the pres- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 97 

ent campaign. Should the enemy be able to obtain 
no opportunity of annihilating the marquis's army, a 
small proportion of their force may yet restrain his 
movements effectually, while the greater part is em- 
ployed in detachments to waste an unarmed country, 
and lead the minds of the people to acquiesce under 
those events which they see no human power prepared 
to ward off. We are too far removed from the other 
scenes of war, to say whether the main force of the 
enemy be within this State; but I suppose they can- 
not any where spare so great an army for the opera- 
tions of the field. Were it possible for this circum- 
stance to justify, in your excellency, a determination 
to lend us your personal aid, it is evident from the 
universal voice, that the presence of their beloved 
countryman, whose talents have so long been success- 
fully employed in establishing the freedom of kindred 
States, to whose person they have still flattered them- 
selves they retained some right, and have ever looked 
upon as their dernier resort [last resort] in distress; 
that your appearance, among them, I say, would re- 
store full confidence of salvation, and would render 
them equal to whatever is not impossible. I cannot 
undertake to foresee and obviate the difficulties which 
lie in the way of such a resolution. The whole sub- 
ject is before you, of which I see only detached parts. 
Should the danger of the State, and its consequences 
7 



98 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

to the Union, be such as to render it best for the whole 
that you should repair to its assistance, the difficulty 
would then be how to keep men out of the field. I 
have undertaken to hint this matter to your excel- 
lency, not only on my own sense of its importance to 
us, but at the solicitation of many members of weight 
in our legislature, which has not yet assembled to 
speak its own desires. A few days will bring to me 
that relief, which the Constitution has prepared for 
those oppressed with the labors of my office; and a 
long declared resolution of relinquishing it to abler 
hands, has prepared my way for retirement to a 
private station ; still, as an individual, I should feel 
the comfortable effects of your presence, and have 
(what I thought could not have been) an additional 
motive for that gratitude, esteem and respect, which 
I have long felt for your excellency." 

It was at this period that Tarlton made his fa- 
mous attempt to surprise and capture Mr. Jefferson 
at Monticello. Having approached within ten miles 
of that place with his whole force, he sent a detach- 
ment of horse rapidly in advance, under the command 
of Captain McLeod, to accomplish that purpose. But 
several of Mr. Jefferson's friends had apprized him of 
his peril, and he was able to make his escape, about 
ten minutes before the arrival of the foe. He rode 
rapidly on horseback through the adjacent forests to 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 99 

the house of Edward Carter, six miles distant, and 
thus eluded the British. 

The following extract from the defense which was 
made by Mr. Jefferson against the charges which had 
been preferred against him, at once both vindicates 
him from the accusations of his foes, and exhibits 
the peculiar spirit with which he repelled their ma- 
lignant attacks upon his honor and his fame. 

M. de Lafayette, about this time, arrived at Rich- 
mond with some continental troops, with which, and 
the militia collected in the neighborhood, he con- 
tinued to occupy that place, and the north bank of 
the river, while Phillips and Arnold held Manchester 
and the south bank. But Lord Cornwallis, about the 
middle of May, joining them with the main southern 
army, M. de Lafayette was obliged to retire. The ene- 
my crossed the river and advanced up into the country, 
about fifty miles, and within thirty miles of Char- 
lottesville, at which place the legislature being to 
met in June, the governor proceeded to his seat at 
Monticello, two or three miles from it. His office 
was now near expiring — the country under invasion 
by a powerful army — no services but military of any 
avail — unprepared by his line of life and education 
for the command of armies, he believed it right not 
to stand in the way of talents better fitted than his 
own to the circumstances under w^hich the country 

L.cFG. 



100 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

was placed. He, therefore, himself proposed to his 
friends in the legislature, that General Nelson, who 
commanded the militia of the state, should be ap- 
pointed governor, as he was sensible that the union of 
the civil and military power in the same hands, at 
this time, would greatly facilitate military measures. 
This appointment accordingly took place on the 12th 
of June, 1781.'' 

After narrating the particulars of Tarlton's at- 
tempt to surprise him at Monticello, he thus com- 
ments on the charge which his enemies had founded 
on that enterprise : 

" This is the famous adventure of Carter's Moun- 
tain, which has been so often resounded through the 
slanderous chronicles of federalism. But they have 
taken care never to detail the facts, lest these should 
show that this favorite charge amounted to nothing 
more than that he did not remain in his house, and 
there singly fight a whole troop of horse, or suffer 
himself to be taken prisoner. Having accompanied 
his family one day's journey, he returned to Monti- 
cello. Tarlton had retired after eighteen hours' stay 
in Charlottesville. Mr. Jefferson then rejoined his 
family, and proceeded with them to an estate he had 
in Bedford, about eighty miles south-west, where, 
riding on his farm, some time after, he was thrown 
from his horse, and disabled from riding on horseback 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 101 

for a considerable time. But Mr. Turner finds it 
more convenient to give him this fall, in his retreat 
before Tarlton, which had happened some weeks be- 
fore, as a proof that he withdrew from a troop of 
horse with a precipitancy which Don Quixote would 
not have practiced. 

'^ The facts here stated most particularly, with 
date of time and place, are taken from the notes 
made by the writer hereof, for his own satisfaction 
at the time — the others are from memory, but so 
well recollected, that he is satisfied there is no ma- 
terial fact misstated. Should any person undertake 
to contradict any particular, on evidence which may 
at all merit the public respect, the writer will take 
the trouble (though not at all in the best situation 
for it) to produce the proofs in support of it. He 
finds, indeed, that of the persons whom he recollects 
to have been present on the occasion, few have sur- 
vived the intermediate lapse of four and twenty years. 
Yet he trusts that some, as well as himself, are yet 
among the living ; and he is positively certain that no 
man can falsify any material fact here stated. He 
well remembers, indeed, that there were then, as there 
are at all times, some who blamed every thing done 
contrary to their own opinion, although their opinions 
were formed on a very partial knowledge of facts. 
The censures which have been hazarded by such men 



102 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFEHSON. 

as Mr. Turner, are nothing but revivals of these half- 
informed opinions. Mr. George Nicholas, then a 
very young man, but always a very honest one, was 
prompted by these persons to bring specific charges 
against Mr. Jefferson. The heads of these, in writ- 
ing, were communicated through a mutual friend to 
Mr. Jefferson, who committed to writing also the 
heads of justification on each of them. I well re- 
member this paper, and believe the original of it still 
exists; and though framed when every real fact was 
fresh in the knowledge of every one, this fabricated 
flight from Richmond was not among the charges 
stated in this paper, nor any charge against Mr. Jef- 
ferson for not fighting, singly, the troop of horse. 
Mr. Nicholas candidly relinquished further proceed- 
ing. The House of Representatives of Virginia pro- 
nounced an honorable sentence of entire approbation 
of Mr. Jefferson's conduct, and so much the more hon- 
orable, as themselves had been witnesses to it. And 
Mr. George Nicholas took a conspicuous occasion af- 
terward, of his own free will, and when the matter 
was entirely at rest, to retreat publicly the erroneous 
opinions he had been led into on that occasion, and 
to make just reparation by a candid acknowledgment 
of them." 

While Mr. Jefferson was confined at Poplar Forest, 
his estate in Bedford, in consequence of the fall from 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 103 

his horse, and was thereby incapable of any active 
employment, public or private, he occupied him- 
self with answering the queries which M. de Marbois 
then secretary of the French Legation to the United 
States, had submitted to him respecting the physical 
and political condition of Virginia; which answers 
-were afterward published by him, under the title of 
" ITotes on Virginia." When we consider how diffi- 
cult it is, even in the present day, to get an accurate 
knowledge of such details of our country, and how 
much greater the difficulty must have then been, we 
are surprised at the extent of the information which a 
single individual had been able to acquire, as to the 
physical features of the State — the course, length and 
depth of its rivers, its zoological and botanical pro- 
ductions, its Indian tribes, its statistics and its laws. 
After the lapse of more than half a century, by much 
the larger part of this work still gives us the fullest 
and most accurate information which we possess in 
reference to the subjects of which it treats. 



CIIAPTEK VII. 

Mr. JotTor-k^n Cluven a Plouiivneutiarv to Enirland— TVath of 
Mrs. JoiTorsou — Mission to EngUvud Alwudoiuni — Mr. 
JerTer«iO!i Elected a Delep\te to Congrecss? — Iiuprvnements 
ill the Curreiioy — Waiihington Ke^gus his Commission to 
Congress at Aunaiv»Us — The Do tinitive Treaty with Eng- 
land— Auti-Slavery Ordinances Proix>sevi by Mr. Jefferson 
in Congress in 17^— He is Ap^xnnted Pleni^^Knentiary 
to Fnuice — Confore^nces with the French Ministry— At- 
tempt to Negotiate a Commercial Treiity with Great 

Britain. 

« 

Ox the l"ub of Juno. ITSI, ^Nlr. JotTorson was 
cliosen by Congivs^^s in oonnovnion with ^lossrs. 
Adams, Franklin, Jay and Laurons, as ministor- 
plenipotentiary, to negotiate a peace which was then 
contemplated with Enghind» through the mediation 
of Kussia. IIo however deelined the ap}x^intnient. 
The expected moviiaiion of Eussia never t^x>k ph\ee, 
and very soon the memorable capture of Cornwallis 
at Yorktown rendereii it unnecessary. Tho cause 
of tyranny l>eeame thereafter hopeless in the United 
Colonies, and the enemy was compelled at once to 
treat. On this important oeeasion !^^r. Jefferson was 
again chosen to represent the interests of this coun- 
try. This appointment he aeeepted, and among the 
104 



LIFE or TOOMAB JEFFEESOir, 10r> 

motiveg which influenced him s^^ to do, was one of a 
dorneHtic and painful nature. 

In September, 1782, Mr^i. Jefferson die^i, and thiis 
bereavement produced a df^p effect upon her hus- 
band's mind. He had three daughters who suri'ived 
their mother, and to every member of his family be 
waa tenderly attached. He supposed that a change of 
Bcene might produce a beneficial effect upon his 
epiritH. Mrs. Randolph, his favorite daughter, thus 
speaks of the effect which the death of Mrs. Jefferson 
pro^luced ujx/n the mind of the subject of this 
memoir : 

" Ah a nur-f/i, no female ever had more tenderness 
or anxiety. He nursed my poor mother, in turn, with 
aunt Carr and his own sisters; sitting up with her, 
and administering her medicines and drink to the 
last For four months that she lingered, he was 
never out of calling. When not at her bed-side, he 
was writing in a small room that op»ened immediately 
at the head of her bed. A moment before the clos- 
ing scene, he was led from the room almost in a state 
of insensibility by his sister, Mrs. Carr, who with 
difficulty got him into his library, where he fainted, 
and remained so long insensible, that they became 
apprehensive he never would revive. The scene that 
followed I did not witness; but the violence of his 
grief, rwhen, by stealth, I entered hh rryjin at night,) 



106 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

I dare not trust myself to describe. He kept his 
room three weeks, during whick I was never a mo- 
ment from his side. He walked almost incessantly, 
night and day, lying down only occasionally, when 
nature was completely exhausted, on a pallet, that had 
been brought in during his long fainting fit. My aunts 
remained constantly with him for some weeks; I do 
not remember how many. When at last he left his 
room, he rode out and from that time he was inces- 
santly on horseback, rambling about the mountains, 
in the least frequented roads, and just as often 
through the woods." 

Having accepted the mission offered him by Con- 
gress, Mr. Jefferson started on the 19th of Decem- 
ber, 1782, for Philadelphia. There he arrived after 
a journey of eight days. He proposed to embark at 
that place ; but the French minister, M. Lucerne, of- 
fering him a passage in a frigate then lying below 
Baltimore, he proceeded thither. The ice still im- 
peded and suspended the navigation, and he was com- 
pelled to wait during several months. In the mean 
time, hoAvcvcr, a provisional treaty of peace had been 
signed by the American commissioners on the 3d of 
September; and this event precluding the necessity 
of the further agency of the new commissioners, Mr. 
Jefferson returned on the 15th of May to Monticello. 

On the 6th of June, the Legislature of Virginia ap- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 107 

pointed him a delegate to Congress. He left Monti- 
cello on the 16th of October, and arrived at Trenton, 
where Congress then sat, on the 4th of November. 
On the 25th of that month Congress adjourned to 
meet at Annapolis, the capital of Maryland; but it 
was not until the 13th of December that a quorum 
could be obtained. 

The first subject which engaged his attention as a 
member of this Congress, was that of the currency. 
The colonies had always experienced the want of a 
sufficient supply of the precious metals ; and although 
their currency was nominally the same as that of the 
mother country, it had greatly depreciated, not only 
abroad, but even among the States themselves. A 
hundred pounds of English money were then equiva- 
lent to a hundred and thirty-three and a third pounds 
in Virginia and through 'New England. In other 
States the disproportion was still greater. The at- 
tention of Congress had been first called to this sub- 
ject by Robert Morris in 1782. That great financier 
made an elaborate report, showing the importance of 
a general standard value of money. At the session 
of Congress which then convened, the subject was re- 
ferred to a committee, of which Mr. Jefferson was a 
member. He suggested a plan, in favor of which the 
committee eventually reported. This plan of arrang- 
ing the currency was adopted by Congress during the 



108 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

following year. He suggested the introduction of 
the dollar as our unit of account and payment; and 
its division and subdivision in the decimal ratio, into 
dimes, cents, and mills. He proposed the same prin- 
ciple in the regulation of weights, measures, and dis- 
tances. The plan has been found admirable in ref- 
erence to the coin ; but it has never been tried in re- 
gard to the other matters. 

On the 19th December General Washington ar- 
rived at Annapolis for the purpose of resigning to 
Cono-ress the hissh military command with which he 

O Of 

had been intrusted, and which he had exercised with 
such success and glory. 

A committee, of which Mr. Jefferson was chair- 
man, was appointed to make arrangements for the 
occasion. The ceremony took place in the State 
House Hall, at 12 o'clock, on the 23d of December, in 
the presence of all the officers of the federal and state 
governments and of numerous spectators. The moral 
grandeur of the scene, and the patriotic exultation it 
was likely to call forth, could not suppress a feeling 
of tender melancholy on beholding that connection 
dissolved which had been the source of so much na- 
tional pride and glory; and many of the spectators, 
yielding to this emotion, melted into tears. The 
principal actors themselves, General Washington and 
the president of Congress, General Mifflin, were al- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 109 

most overpowered by their feelings. This closing act 
of the great drama made a deep impression on the 
whole American people, and forms one of the inter- 
esting subjects with which Trumbuirs gifted brush 
has adorned the Capitol at Washington. The ad- 
dresses of the general, and of the president of Con- 
gress in reply to him, exhibit the same beautiful sim- 
plicity, both as to thought and diction, which was 
suited to the occasion. That of the president, as- 
cribed to the pen of Mr. Jefferson, is quoted as a 
specimen of his happiest manner. 

^' Sir : The United States, in Congress assembled, 
receive with emotions too affecting for utterance, the 
solemn resignation of the authorities under which 
yon have led their troops with success through a per- 
ilous and doubtful war. Called upon by your coun- 
try to defend its invaded rights, you accepted the 
sacred charge, before it had formed alliances, and 
whilst it was without funds, or a government to sup- 
port you. You have conducted the great military 
contest with wisdom and fortitude, invariably re- 
garding the rights of the civil power through all dis- 
asters and changes. You have, by the love and con- 
fidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled them to dis- 
play their martial genius, and transmit their fame 
to posterity. You have persevered, till these United 
States, aided by a magnanimous king and nation, 



110 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

have been enabled, under a just Providence, to close 
the war in freedom, safety and independence; on 
which happy event we sincerely join you in congrat- 
ulations. 

'' Having defended the standard of liberty in this 
new world ; having taught a lesson useful to those who 
inflict, and to those who feel oppression, you retire 
from the great theatre of action, with the blessings of 
your fellow-citizens — but the glory of your virtues 
will not terminate with your military command, it 
will continue to animate remotest ages. 

" We feel with you our obligations to the army in 
general, and will particularly charge ourselves with 
the interests of those confidential officers, who have 
attended your person to this affecting moment. 

" We join you in commending the interests of our 
dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, 
beseeching him to dispose the hearts and minds of its 
citizens to improve the opportunity afforded them of 
becoming a happy and respectable nation. And for 
you we address to him our earnest prayers, that a life 
so beloved may be fostered with all his care ; that your 
days may be happy as they have been illustrious ; and 
that he will finally give you that reward which this 
world cannot give." 

Immediately after this event the definite treaty 
with England arrived at Annapolis, and its provisions 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. m 

became tiie subject of protracted arguments and dis- 
cussions. In reference to this occasion Mr. Jeffer- 
son has said : ^^ Our body was little numerous but very 
contentious. Day after day v/as wasted on the most 
unimportant questions. A member, one of those 
afflicted with the morbid rage of debate, of an ardent 
mind, prompt imagination, and copious flow of words, 
who heard with impatience any logic which was not 
his own, sitting near me, on some occasion of a trifling 
but wordy debate, asked me how I could sit in silence, 
hearing so much false reasoning, which a word should 
refute ? I observed to him, that to refute indeed was 
easy, but to silence impossible; that in measures 
brought forward by myself I took the laboring oar, as 
was incumbent on me; but that in general I was 
willing to listen ; that if every sound argument or ob- 
jection was used by some one or other of the numerous 
debaters, it was enough ; if not, I thought it sufficient 
to suggest the omission, without going into a repeti- 
tion of what had been already said by others: that 
this was a waste and abuse of the time and patience 
of the house, which could not be justified. And I 
believe, that if the members of deliberative bodies 
were to observe this course generally, they would do 
in a day what takes them a week; and it is really 
more questionable than may at first be thought, 
whether Bonaparte^s dumb legislature, which said 



112 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

nothing and did much, may not be preferable to one 
which talks much and does nothing. I served with 
General Washington in the Legislature of Virginia, 
before the Revolution, and during it with Dr. Frank- 
lin in Congress; I never heard either of them speak 
ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point 
which was to decide the question. They laid their 
shoulders to the great points, knowing that the little 
ones would follow of themselves. If the present 
Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be 
otherwise in a body to which the people send one 
hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to ques- 
tion every thing, yield nothing, and talk by the hour ? 
That one hundred and fifty lawyers should do 
business together ought not to be expected." 

At length, on the 14th of January, the delegates 
from nine States having arrived, the treaty was rati- 
fied without a dissenting voice. 

Subsequent to the conclusion of this important mat- 
ter, on the Ist of March, 1784, a committee consist- 
ing of Messrs. Jefferson, Chase of Maryland, and 
Howell of Rhode Island, reported to Congress the 
following celebrated ordinance for the government of 
all the national territory lying beyond the limits of 
the thirteen States, and not merely the North- Western 
Territory, and for the exclusion of slavery therefrom. 

'"■ Resolved, That the territory ceded or to be ceded 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 113 

bj individual States to the United States, whensoever 
the same shall have been purchased of the Indian in- 
habitants and offered for sale by the United States, 
shall be formed into additional States, bounded in 
the following manner, as nearly as such cessions will 
admit; that is to say, northwardly and southwardly 
by parallels of latitude, so that each State shall com- 
prehend from south to north two degrees of latitude, 
beginning to count from the completion of thirty-one 
degrees north of the equator ; but any territory north- 
wardly of the forty-seventh degree shall make part of 
the State next below. And eastwardly and west- 
wardly they shall be bounded, those on the Mississip- 
pi, by that river on one side and the meridian of the 
lowest point of the rapids of the Ohio on the other ; 
and those adjoining on the east, by the same merid- 
ian on their western side, and on their eastern by the 
meridian of the western cape of the mouth of the 
great Kanawha. And the territory eastward of this 
last meridian, between the Ohio, Lake Erie, and 
Pennsylvania, shall be one State. 

'* That the settlers within the territory so to be 
purchased and offered for sale shall, either on their 
own petition or on the order of Congress, receive 
authority from them, with appointments of time and 
place, for their free males of full age to meet to- 
gether for the purpose of establishing a temporary 
8 



114: I^IFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

government, to adopt the constitution and laws of any 
one of these States, so that such laws nevertheless 
shall be subject to alteration by their ordinary Legis- 
lature, and to erect, subject to a like alteration, coun- 
ties or townships for the election of members for 
their legislature. 

" That such temporary government shall only con- 
tinue in force in any State until it shall have acquired 
twenty thousand free inhabitants, when, giving the 
due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive from 
them authority, with appointments of time and place, 
to call a convention of representatives to establish a 
permanent constitution and government for them- 
selves; provided, that both the temporary and per- 
manent governments be established on these princi- 
ples as their basis : 

" 1. That they shall forever remain a part of the 
United States of America. 

" 2. That in their persons, property, and territory, 
they shall be subject to the Government of the United 
States in Congress assembled, and to the Articles of 
Confederation in all those cases in which the original 
States shall be so subject. 

'^ 3. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the 
Federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, to be 
apportioned on them by Congress according to the 



LIFE OP THOMAS JEFFERSON. 115 

same common rule and measure by whieli apportion- 
ments thereof shall be made on the other States. 

" 4. That their respective governments shall be in 
republican forms, and shall admit no person to be a 
citizen who holds any hereditary title. 

" 5. That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, 
there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
tude in any of the said States, otherwise than in 
punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted to have been personally guilty. 

" That whenever any of the said States shall have, 
of free inhabitants, as many as shall then be in any 
one of the least numerous of the thirteen original 
States, such State shall be admitted by its delegates, 
into the Congress of the United States, on an equal 
footing with the said original States; after which 
the assent of two-thirds of the United States, in 
Congress assembled, shall be requisite in all those 
cases wherein, by the confederation, the assent of 
nine States is now required, provided the consent of 
nine States to such admission may be obtained accord- 
ing to the eleventh of the Articles of Confederation. 
Until such admission by their delegates into Congress, 
any of the said States, after the establishment of their 
temporary government, shall have authority to keep a 
sitting member in Congress, with a right of debating, 
but not of voting. 



116 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

" That the territory northward of the forty-fifth 
degree, that is to say, of the completion of forty-five 
degrees from the equator, and extending to the Lake 
of the Woods, shall be called Sylvania; that of the 
territory under the forty-fifth and forty-fourth de- 
grees, that which lies westward of Lake Michigan, 
shall he called Michigania; and that which is east- 
ward thereof, within the peninsula formed by the 
lakes and waters of Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, and 
Erie, shall be called Chersonesus, and shall include 
any part of the peninsula which may extend above 
the forty-fifth degree. Of the territory under the 
forty-third and forty-second degrees, that to the west- 
ward,- through which the Assenisipi or Kock River 
runs, shall be called Assenisipia; and that to the east- 
ward, in which are the fountains of the Muskingum, 
the two Miamies of the Ohio, the Wabash, the Illi- 
nois, the Miami of the Lake, and the Sandusky rivers, 
shall be called Metro pot amia. Of the territory which 
lies under the forty-first and fortieth degrees, the wes- 
tern, through which the river Illinois runs, shall be 
called Illinoia; the next adjoining to the eastward, 
Saratoga; and that between this last and Pennsyl- 
vania, and extending from the Ohio to Lake Erie, 
shall be called Washington. Of the territory which 
lies under the thirty-ninth and thirty-eighth degrees, 
to w^hich shall be added so much of the point of land 



LLIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 117 

within the fork of the Ohio and Mississippi as lies 
under the thirty-seventh degree ; that to the westward, 
within and adjacent to which are the confluences of 
the rivers Wabash, Shawanee, Tanisee, Ohio, Illinois, 
Mississippi, and Missouri, shall be called Polypo- 
tamia; and that to the eastward, further up the Ohio, 
otherwise called the Pelisipi, shall be called Pelisipia. 

^" That all the preceding articles shall be formed 
into a charter of compact, shall be duly executed by 
the President of the United States in Congress as- 
sembled, under his hand and the seal of the United 
States, shall be promulgated, and shall stand as fun- 
damental conditions between the thirteen original 
States and those newly described, unalterable but by 
the joint consent of the United States, in Congress as- 
sembled, and of the particular State within which 
such alteration is proposed to be made." 

On a test vote on adopting the anti-slavery pro- 
vision above, sixteen voted aye, and seven no ; but the 
requisite number of States failing to vote in the af- 
firmative, it was lost. And three years later the Or- 
dinance of 1787, for the i^orth-western Territory 
alone, was adopted. 

Congress having resolved to send another minister 
to Europe for the purpose of negotiating treaties of 
commerce there, in addition to Messrs. Franklin and 
Adams, Mr. Jefferson was appointed for that post 



118 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

He accepted the proffered honor, which allured him 
by the highest inducements, both of usefulness, fame 
and pleasure, so to do. He thus describes his voyage : 
• I left Annapolis on the 11th, [June 11, 1784] took 
with me my eldest daughter, then at Philadelphia, 
(the two others being too young for the voyage,) and 
proceeded to Boston in quest of a passage. While 
passing through the different States, I made a point 
of informing myself of the state of the commerce of 
each ; went on to Xew Hampshire with the same view, 
and returned to Boston. Thence I sailed on the 5th 
of July, in the Ceres, a merchant ship of Mr. Nathan- 
iel Tracy, bound to Cowes. He was himself a pas- 
senger, and after a pleasant voyage of nineteen days, 
we arrived at Cowes on the 26th. I was detained 
there a few days by the indisposition of my daughter. 
On the 30th we embarked for Havre, arrived there on 
the 31st, left it on the 3d of August, and arrived at 
Paris on the 6th. I called immediately on Dr. 
Franklin, at Passy, communicated to him our charge, 
and we wrote to Mr. Adams, then at the Hague, to 
join us at Paris." 

In Europe, the services of Mr. Jefferson were 
highly beneficial to his country; for independent of 
his diplomatic talent, the moral force of his character 
as a statesman, a man of science, a philosopher and a 
sage, elevated the reputation of his country, and ex- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 119 

torted that respect which civilized mankind always 
pay as the tribute of reason to the power of intellect. 
Having negotiated several treaties of commerce, Dr. 
Franklin returned home ; and Mr. Adams having been 
appointed ambassador at St. James', Mr. Jefferson 
was left as minister at the court of Versailles. 

A treaty with Prussia and Morocco was the only 
fruit of the labors of the three ambassadors. 

At the request of Mr. Adams, Jefferson now went 
over to London to attempt a treaty with that power ; 
but returned to Paris covered with disappointment, 
mortification and chagrin at the cold reception which 
the overture had received. 

From Paris, Mr. Jefferson found leisure to traviel 
into Italy, and to explore Holland ; and his powers of 
observation fully enabled him to amass a fund of in- 
formation as useful to his country as it proved bene- 
ficial to himself. 

In France, a long residence and a perfect mastery 
of the language could not fail to imbue him deeply 
with European politics. His prepossessions in favor 
of the French were warm and evident ; he did not con- 
ceal his attachment to the French character, and to 
French modes of thinking, acting and feeling ; and he 
therefore naturally became a favorite with their phil- 
osophers and men of letters ; nor was it a slight honor 
to call D'Alembert his friend, to embrace Condorcet 



120 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

as a companion, and to acknowledge the Abbe Mor- 
rellet as his literary godfather, who from love to the 
author translated his Notes on Virginia. 

Although at a foreign court, the thoughts of Jef- 
ferson were too much directed homeward to allow 
him to overlook what was going on, in the formation 
of the new constitution, to which he looked with an 
anxiety proportioned to the magnitude and impor- 
tance of the subject. As it wall forever remain an in- 
teresting subject of rational curiosity, as well as of 
political importance, to know in what light he viewed 
the constitution at the time of its adoption, we will 
quote from his memoirs and correspondence all that 
appears to bear directly upon this great point. He 
says, page G3 : " Our first essay in America, to estab- 
lish a federative government, had fallen, on trial, very 
short of its object. During the War of Independence 
while the pressure of an external enemy hooped us 
together, and their enterprises kept us necessarily on 
the alert, the spirit of the people, excited by danger, 
was a supplement to the confederation, and urged 
them to zealous exertions, whether claimed by that in- 
strument or not ; but when peace and safety were re- 
stored, and every man became engaged in useful and 
profitable occupation, less attention was paid to the 
calls of Congress. The fundamental defect of the 
confederation was, that Congress was not authorized 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 121 

to act immediately on the people, and by its own offi- 
cers. Tlieir power was only requisitory, and those 
requisitions were addressed to the several legislatures, 
to be by them carried into execution, without other 
coercion than the moral principle of duty. This al- 
lowed, in fact, a negative to every legislature on every 
measure proposed by Congress ; a negative so fre- 
quently exercised in practice, as to benumb the ac- 
tion of the federal government, and to render it in- 
efficient in its general objects, and more especially in 
pecuniary and foreign concerns. The want, too, of a 
separation of the legislative, executive and judiciary 
functions worked disadvantageously in practice. 
Yet this state of things afforded a happy augury of 
the future march of our confederacy, when it was 
seen that the good sense and good disposition of the 
people, as soon as they perceived the incompetence of 
their first compact, instead of leaving its correction 
to insurrection and civil war, agreed with one voice to 
elect deputies to a general convention." 

Immediately on his arrival in Paris, Mr. Jefferson 
rented a house in the Cul de Sac Tetehout, near the 
Boulevards, and furnished it in an elegant and ex- 
pensive manner. His household consisted of Colonel 
Humphreys, the secretary of legislation, Mr. Short, 
his private secretary, and his daughter, who was after- 
ward placed in a convent for her education. One of 



122 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

the first projects which occupied his attention was the 
printing of his Notes on Virginia. He had re- 
frained from publishing the work in America in con- 
sequence of the expense. He found that the cost in 
Europe would be only about one-fourth of the price in 
his own country. Two hundred copies only were 
printed at first. One of these fell into the hands of a 
Parisian publisher who procured a French transla- 
tion to be made, but so imperfectly was it done as to 
deface and deform the work. Mr. Jefferson then 
negotiated with a London bookseller to have the vol- 
ume properly given to the world, and thus introduce 
it to general diffusion. 

The Legislature of Virginia had authorized him 
and his colleagues to employ a competent artist to 
execute a statue of General Washington. In the 
performance of this duty, Mr. Jefferson selected a 
distinguished French artist named Houdon * for the 
task. This person visited the United States, in the 
execution of the work, and the result of his labors now 
adorn the Capitol of the State of Virginia. Mr. Jef- 
ferson also recommended Houdon as a suitable person 
to execute the equestrian statue of Washington which 
Congress had resolved upon. But difiiculties post- 

* Jean Antoine Hourion (1741-182S) a deservedly popular 
sculptor, especially famous for his busts of Franklin , Napoleon, 
Rousseau, and others. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 123 

poned and subsequently entirely defeated tlie reali- 
zation of this enterprise. 

On the 15th of August, 1785, Mr. Jefferson opened 
his negotiations with the French minister, Count de 
Vergenncs, in reference to the establishment of a 
commercial treaty between France and tlie United 
States. Mr. Adams had previously left Paris for 
London, Dr. Franklin had returned home, and Mr. 
Jefferson was left alone to conduct this important and 
difficult negotiation. He desired to place the trade 
in tobacco on a footing profitable to both countries. 
The policy of the French government in reference to 
this great staple had been exclusive and selfish, " con- 
trary to the spirit of trade and to the dispositions of 
merchants to carry a commodity to any market where 
but one person is allowed to buy it, and where of 
course that person fixes its price, which the seller 
must receive or re-export his commodity at the loss 
of his voyage thither. Experience accordingly shows 
that they carry it to other markets, and that they take 
in exchange the merchandise of the place where they 
deliver it.'' 

The deliberations were long, intricate and tedious. 
Mr. Jefferson was called on to answer many objec- 
tions to his proposed arrangement. One of these 
was that the treaty would encourage smuggling. 
The answer to this argument was, that " the temp- 



124 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

tation to smuggling would be less, wlien what costs 
fourteen sous may now be sold for sixty, but will then 
sell for but forty." He desired to remove all re- 
strictions on commerce, and he thus asserted fully 
and boldly the great democratic principle on that sub- 
ject. • - 

In a letter to Mr. Adams in July, 1785, he thus 
speaks of the policy of subjecting aliens to higher 
duties than arc paid by citizens : '" As far as my 
inquiries enable me to judge, France and Holland 
make no distinction of duties between aliens and 
natives. I also rather believe that the other states 
of Europe make none, England excepted, to whom 
this policy, as that of her navigation act, seems pe- 
culiar. The question then is, should we disarm our- 
selves of the power to make this distinction against 
all nations, in order to purchase an exemption from 
the alien duties in England only ? for if we put her 
importations on the footing of native, all other na- 
tions with whom we treat will have a right to claim 
the same. I think we should, because against other 
nations who make no distinctions in their ports be- 
tween us and their own subjects, we ought not to 
make a distinction in ours. And if the English will 
agree in like manner to make none, we should with 
equal reason abandon the right as against them. I 
think all the world would gain by setting commerce 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 125 

at perfect liberty. I remember that wben we were 
digesting the general form of our treaty, this propo- 
sition to put foreigners and natives on the same foot- 
ing was considered; and we were all three, Dr. 
Franklin, as well as you and myself, in favor of it." 

In a letter received from Mr. Jay, he had been 
asked '^ Whether it would be useful to us to carry all 
our own productions, or none ? " and he evidently 
shows a preference for the Chinese policy. This 
opinion may seem inconsistent with a clear percep- 
tion of the benefits of free trade ; but on this occasion 
he postpones pecuniary gain to what he deemed the 
higher considerations of national policy. 

" We have now," he says, " lands enough to em- 
ploy an infinite number of people in their cultiva- 
tion. Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable 
citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most in- 
dependent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to 
their country and wedded to its liberty and interests 
by the most lasting bonds. As long, therefore, as 
they can find employment in this line, I would not 
convert them into mariners, artisans, or any thing 
else. But our citizens will find employment in this 
line, till their numbers, and of course their produc- 
tions, become too great for the demand, both inter- 
nal and foreign. This is not the case as yet, and 
probably will not be for a considerable time. As 



12§ LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

soon as it is, the surplus of hands must be turned to 
something else. I should then, perhaps, wish to 
turn them to the sea, in preference to manufacturers ; 
because, comparing the characters of the two classes, 
I find the former the most valuable citizens. I con- 
sider the class of artificers as the panders of vice, 
and the instruments by which the liberties of a 
country are generally overturned. However, we are 
not free to decide this question on principles of 
theory only. Our people are decided in the opinion 
that it is necessary for us to make a share in the oc- 
cupation of the ocean, and their established habits 
induce them to require that the sea be kept open 
for them, and that that line of policy be pursued 
which will render the use of that element to them as 
great as possible. I think it a duty in those en- 
trusted with the administration of their affairs, to 
conform themselves to the decided choice of their 
constituents : and that, therefore, we should in every 
instance preserve an equality of right to them, in 
the transportation of commodities, in the right of 
fishing, and in the other uses of the sea." 

But he thinks that wars will be the inevitable 
consequence : " That their property will be violated 
on the sea, and in foreign ports their persons will be 
insulted, imprisoned, &c., which outrages we must 
resent. That the only way to deter injustice will be 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 127 

to put ourselves, by means of a naval force, in a situ- 
ation to punish it. I think it," he says, ^' to our 
interest to punish the first insult; because an insult 
unpunished is the parent of many others." In case 
of a war with England, he thought we should abandon 
the carrying trade, because we could not protect it. 
^^ Foreign nations must in that case be invited to 
bring us what we want, and take our productions in 
their own bottoms. This alone could prevent the loss 
of those productions to us, and the acquisition of 
them to our enemy. Our seamen might be employed 
in depredations on their trade." He afterward adds : 
" Our vicinity to their West India possessions and to 
the fisheries, is a bridle which a small naval force on 
our part would hold in the mouths of the most power- 
ful of these countries. I hope our Land Office will 
rid us of our debts, and that our first attention then 
will be to the beginning of a naval force of some sort. 
This alone can countenance our people as carriers on 
the water, and I suppose them to be determined to 
continue such." 

In March, 1787, Mr. Jeiferson proceeded to Lon- 
don to assist Mr. Adams in perfecting the treaties 
which were then in progress of negotiation with Trip- 
oli, Tunis and Portugal, together with that then 
pending with England. Mr. Jefferson at this time 
uttered the conviction to one of his correspondents, 



128 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

that notwithstanding the treaty which had already 
been ratified with England and the United States, 
the former was the enemy of the latter; that her 
hatred was deeply rooted and cordial ; and that noth- 
ing was wanting with her but the power to crush her 
rebellious colonies from the face of the earth. And 
this opinion seemed founded in truth, and was sup- 
ported by ample evidence furnished by the press, the 
parliament and the court of England at that moment. 
The ulcerations of the king's mind seemed to be so 
great as to hold out no hope of reconciliation what- 
ever. On the presentation of Messrs. Jefferson and 
Adams, their reception " by their majesties " was 
most ungracious. Before leaving England, Mr. Jef- 
ferson wrote as follows to Mr. Jay, then Secretary of 
Foreign Affairs: 

" With this country nothing is done ; and that noth- 
ing is intended to be done on their part, admits not 
the smallest doubt. The nation is against any 
change of measures; the ministers are against it; 
some from principle, others from subserviency; and 
the king, more than all men, is against it. If we 
take a retrospect to the beginning of the present 
reign, we observe that amidst all the changes of min- 
istry, no change of measures with respect to America 
ever took place, excepting only at the moment of the 
peace, and the minister of that movement was im- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 129 

mediately removed. Judging of the future by the 
past, I do not expect a change of disposition during 
the present reign, which bids fair to be a long one, as 
the king is healthy and temperate. That he is per- 
severing we know. If he ever changes his plan, it 
will be in consequence of events which at present 
neither himself nor his ministers place among those 
which are probable. Even the opposition dare not 
open their lips in favor of a connection with us, so 
unpopular would be the topic. It is not that they 
think our commerce unimportant to them. I find 
that the merchants have set sufficient value on it. 
But they are sure of keeping it on their own terms. 
'No better proof can be shown of the security in which 
the ministers think themselves on this head, than that 
they have not thought it worth while to give us a 
conference on the subject, though on my arrival we 
exhibited to them our commission, observed to them 
that it would expire on the 12th of next month, and 
that I had come over on purpose to see if any ar- 
rangements could be made before that time. Of 
two months which then remained, six weeks have 
elapsed without one scrip of a pen, or one word from 
a minister, except a vague proposition at an acciden- 
tal meeting. We availed ourselves even of that to 
make another essay, to extort some sort of a declara- 
tion from the court ; but their silence is invincible." 
9 



CHAPTEK VIII. 

The Convention at Annapolis — Summoning of the Federal 
Convention — Adoption of the New Constitution — Origin 
and State of Political Parties in the United States — 
Jefferson's Opinions in Reference to the Federal Constitu- 
tion — His Letters on the Subject — Opposing Opinions of 
Washington — Vox Populi, Vox Dei — Jefferson's Travels 
in Europe— His Diplomatic Labors — Events of tlie French 
Revolution— Jefferson's Opinions in Reference to those 
Events. 

In January, 1786, the General Assembly of Vir- 
ginia resolved to appoint eight commissioners to meet 
those of other States to digest a system of uniform 
commercial regulations. The convention v^as ap- 
pointed to meet at Annapolis in the ensuing Septem- 
ber. When that time arrived five States only sent 
their representatives to the Convention. These were 
'New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland 
and Virginia. Mr. Dickerson was appointed presi- 
dent, and the members proceeded to deliberate. They 
found their powers too limited, and their numbers 
too few to secure any benefit or authority from their 
labors. They accordingly adjourned, but before do- 
ing so agreed upon a report to be submitted to the 
difierent States, in which they set forth the ex- 
130 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 131 

pediencj of revising and extending the federal sys- 
tem, and recommended the appointment of deputies 
by the various State legislatures to meet at Philadel- 
phia on the 2d of May, 1787. On the 21st of Feb- 
ruary, 1787, Congress passed a resolution declaring 
such a Convention expedient. On the 25th of May 
deputies from nine States assembled in Philadelphia. 
Washington was elected president. Rhode Island 
subsequently sent her representatives, and the whole 
number composing the Convention was fifty-five. 
After long and careful deliberations a Federal Con- 
stitution was agreed upon. Alexander Hamilton 
drew the first draft, which was afterward adopted 
with some modifications. The instrument was sent 
to Congress on the 2Sth of September, 1787, and by 
them submitted to the several States for their ratifica- 
tion. It was approved by Delaware, Pennsylvania 
and New Jersey in 1787; by Georgia, Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, 'New 
Hampshire, Virginia and New York in 1788 ; l^orth 
Carolina ratified it in November, 1789, and Rhode 
Island in May, 1790. 

It was mainly on the ground of '^ State sovereign- 
ty " that the Constitution reported by this convention 
was opposed on the part of some of the States; and 
that parties arrayed against federal power entered 
warmly into the discussion of its merits, in the in- 



132 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

terim between its promulgation by the Convention 
and its final ratification by the States. To elucidate 
ts merits, and enforce and illustrate its virtues, three 
of the most distinguished friends of Washington, 
noted for their political acumen, profound knowl- 
edge of jurisprudence, power of argument, and force 
of style, united their labors in a series of papers 
under the title of The Federalist; the joint produc- 
tion of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James 
Madison. On the side of State sovereignty, popular 
rights and limited government, were arrayed the 
powerful pens of the great champions of democracy ; 
each party straining every nerve to prevent or secure 
its ratification by the States. 

Here again the weight and influence of Washing- 
ton's character secured a result which without the 
authority of his name, and the magic power of his 
virtues, could not have been produced ; for there is 
conclusive reason to believe, that had the State con- 
ventions been left purely to the naked merits of the 
Constitution, the ratification by the number of States 
required to give it efi^ect could not have been ob- 
tained. Even Marshall is constrained to admit that 
in some of the adopting States a majority of the peo- 
ple were in opposition to it, and were only brought to 
acquiesce in its provisions from a just dread of the 
calamitous consequences of a dismemberment of the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 133 

Union, rather than from an approbation of the in- 
strument which had been submitted for their sanc- 
tion ; and from a deference to the character of Wash- 
ington, which no other man could have inspired. 

Although the Federal Constitution was adopted 
while Mr. Jefferson was residing in Paris, he did not 
view the subject with less interest than if he was 
personally engaged in the direct discussion of its pro- 
visions. He communicated his sentiments very 
freely to Mr. Madison ; and his letters constantly ex- 
press his great confidence in the capacity of the people 
for self-government, and his jealousy of their dele- 
gates. He was decidedly in favor of separating the 
executive, legislative, and judiciary powers. He was 
opposed to the negative proposed to be given on the 
legislative acts of the several States. He said : 

" It fails in an essential character ; the hole and 
the patch should be commensurate. But this pro- 
poses to mend a small hole by covering the whole gar- 
ment. ]^ot more than one out of a hundred State 
acts concern the confederacy. This proposition then, 
in order to give them one degree of power which they 
ought to have, gives them ninety-nine more which 
they ought not to have, upon a presumption that they 
will not exercise the ninety-nine. But upon every act 
there will be a preliminary question : Does this act 
concern the confederacy ? And was there ever a 



134 LIJ'E OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

proposition so plain as to pass Congress without de- 
bate ? Their decisions are almost always wise ; they 
are like pure metal ; but you know of how much dross 
this is the result." 

He suggested as a better method of accomplishing 
the object aimed at, by conferring such a check on 
the Federal government, that there should be an 
appeal from the State judicature to the Federal, 
where the Constitution controlled the question. In 
reference to the powers of coercion on the States 
which the Articles of Confederation conferred upon 
Congress, he thus writes to Mr. Carrington of Vir- 
ginia, in August, 1787 : " My general plan would 
be to make the States one as to every thing connected 
with foreign nations, and several as to every thing 
purely domestic. But with all the imperfections of 
our present government, it is without comparison 
the best existing, or that ever did exist. Its greatest 
defect is the imperfect manner in which matters of 
commerce have been provided for. It has been so 
often said as to be generally believed, that Congress 
have no power by the confederation to enforce any 
thing; for example, contributions of money. It was 
not necessary to give them that power expressly ; they 
have it by the law of nature. When two parties 
make a compact, there results to each a power of 
compelling the other to execute it. Compulsion was 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 135 

never so easy as in our case, where a single frigate 
would soon levy on the commerce of any State the 
deficiency of its contributions ; nor more safe than in 
the hands of Congress, which has always shown that 
it would wait, as it ought to do, to the last extremities 
before it would execute any of the powers that are 
disagreeable." 

To his esteemed friend Mr. Wythe he thus speaks 
of the Federal Convention ; " My own general idea 
was that States should generally preserve their sov- 
ereignty in whatever concerns themselves alone ; and 
that whatever may concern another State, or any for- 
eign nation, should be made a part of the Federal 
sovereignty. That the exercise of the Federal sov- 
ereignty should be divided among three several bod- 
ies — legislative, executive and judiciary, as the State 
sovereignties are; and that some peaceable means 
should be contrived for the Federal head to force 
compliance on the part of the States.'^ Knowing his 
correspondent's classical predilections, in adverting 
to the recent rupture between the Turks and Rus- 
sians, he adds, " Constantinople is the key of Asia — 
Who shall have it ? is the question. I cannot help 
looking forward to the re-establishment of the Greeks 
as a people, and the language of Homer becoming 
again a living language, as among possible events. 
You have now with you Mr, Paradise, who can tell 



136 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

you how easily the modern may be improved into the 
ancient Greek." 

In ISTovember, 1787, he thus writes to Mr. Adams 
more fully and explicitly : ^' How do you like our 
new Constitution? I confess there are things in it 
which stagger all my dispositions to subscribe to what 
such an assembly has proposed. The house of fed- 
eral representatives will not be adequate to the man- 
agement of affairs, either foreign or federal. Their 
president seems a bad edition of a Polish king. He 
may be elected from four years to four years for life. 
Reason and experience prove to us that a chief magis- 
trate so continuable is an office for life. When one 
or two generations shall have proved that there is an 
office for life, it becomes on every succession worthy 
of intrigue, of bribery, force, and even of foreign in- 
terference. It will be of great consequence to France 
and England to have America governed by a Gallo- 
man or Angloman. Once in office, and possessing 
the military force of the Union without the aid or 
check of a council, he would not be easily dethroned, 
even if the people could be induced to withdraw their 
votes from him. I wish at the end of the four years 
they had made him for ever ineligible a second 
time." * 

* Was iV. niton's example in declining to be a candidate for 
a third term has accomplished all that Jefferson could have 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 137 

To Colonel Smith he says of the Constitution : 
" There are very good articles in it, and very bad. 
I do not know which preponderate. What we have 
lately read in the history of Holland, in the chapter 
on the stadtholder, would have sufficed to set me 
against a chief magistrate eligible for a long dura- 
tion, if I have ever been disposed toward one: and 
what he had always read of the elections of Polish 
kings, would have forever excluded the idea of one 
continuable for life.'' Apprehending that argu- 
ments would be drawn for this enlargement of the 
powers of the Federal Government generally, and of 
its executive in particular, from the recent insurrec- 
tion in Massachusetts, he speaks of it not only as an 
unimportant affair, but as scarcely to be deprecated. 
" God forbid,'' he exclaims, " we should ever be 
twenty years without such a rebellion. The people 
cannot be all, and always well informed. The part 
which is wrong wull be discontented in proportion to 
the importance of the facts they misconceive. If 
they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is a 
lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public lib- 
erty. We have had thirteen States independent for 
eleven years. What country before ever existed a 
century and a half without a rebellion ? And what 

desired. The friends of General Grant were in 1880 unsuc- 
cessful in their efforts to break tliis tradition. 



138 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are 
not warned from time to time that this people pre- 
serve the spirit of resistance ? Let them take arms. 
The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon 
and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a 
century or two ? The tree of liberty must be re- 
freshed from time to time with the blood of patriots 
and tyrants. It is its natural manure. Our Con- 
vention has been too much impressed by the insur- 
rection of Massachusetts ; and on the spur of the mo- 
ment, they are setting up a kite to keep the henyard 
in order.'^ 

But in a letter to Mr. Madison, in December, he 
discloses his opinions more at length. The features 
of the Constitution of which he approved were the 
self-acting power of the general government, by 
which it could peaceably go on without recurring to 
the State legislatures; the separation of the legisla- 
tive, executive and judiciary powers; the powers of 
taxation given to the legislature ; and the election of 
the House of Representatives by the people. He 
doubted however whether the members would be as 
well qualified for their duties when chosen by the 
people, as if they were chosen by the legislature. He 
was captivated by the compromise between the great 
and the small States — the latter having the equality 
they asserted in the Senate; the former the propor- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 139 

tion of influence they regarded as their right in the 
House of Representatives. He preferred too the vot- 
ing by persons instead of by States; and he ap- 
proved the qualified negative given to the executive, 
though he would have liked it still better if the judi- 
ciary had been invested with a similar check. 

Still further light is thrown upon Mr. Jefferson's 
views in reference to the provisions and merits of the 
Federal Constitution, by his letter to Mr. Hopkinson 
in March, 1788, and by another written to Mr. Madi- 
son, in which he expresses an opinion hostile to the 
consolidation of the powers of the government. To 
Mr. Madison he says : 

" I own I am not a friend to a very energetic gov- 
ernment ; it is always oppressive ; it places the gov- 
ernors indeed more at their ease, but at the expense 
of the people. The late rebellion in Massachusetts 
has given more alarm than I think it should have 
done. Calculate that one rebellion in thirteen States 
in the course of eleven years, is but one for each 
State in a century and a half. No country should 
be so long without one, nor will any degree of power 
in the hands of government prevent insurrections. 
In England, where the hand of power is heavier than 
with us, there are seldom half a dozen years without 
an insurrection. In France, where it is still heavier 
but less despotic, as Montesquieu supposes, than in 



140 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

some other countries, and where there are always 
two or three hundred thousand men ready to crush 
insurrections, there have been three in the course of 
the three years I have been here, in every one of 
which greater numbers were engaged than in Massa- 
chusetts, and a great deal more blood was spilt. In 
Turkey, where the sole nod of the despot is death, in- 
surrections are the events of every day. Compare 
again the ferocious depredations of their insurgents 
with the order, the moderation, and the almost self- 
extinguishment of ours, and say finally whether peace 
is best preserved by giving energy to the government 
or information to the people. This last is the most 
certain and the most legitimate engine of government. 
Educate and inform the whole mass of the people, 
enable them to see that it is their interest to pre- 
serve peace and order, and they will preserve it ; and 
it requires no very high degree of education to con- 
vince them of this; they are the only sure reliance 
for the preservation of our liberty. After all, it is 
my principle that the will of the majority should pre- 
vail. If they approve the proposed Constitution in 
all its parts I shall concur in it cheerfully, in hopes 
they will mend it whenever they shall find it works 
wrong." 

It may not be uninteresting to place here in op- 
position to these sentiments of Mr. Jefferson the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 141 

opposing views of his illustrious friend Washington 
on the same subject, and in reference to the disputed 
virtues of the same Constitution. In a letter to Mr. 
Jay, Washington thus expresses himself : '"^ Your 
sentiments that our affairs are drawing rapidly to a 
crisis, accord with my own. What the event will be 
is also beyond the reach of my foresight. We have 
errors to correct ; we have probably had too good an 
opinion of human nature in forming our confedera- 
tion. Experience has taught us that men will not 
adopt and carry into execution measures the best cal- 
culated for their own good without the intervention 
of coercive power. I do not conceive we can exist 
long as a nation without lodging somewhere a power 
which will pervade the whole Union in as energetic a 
manner as the authority of the State governments ex- 
tends over the several States. To be fearful of in- 
vesting Congress, constituted as that body is, with 
ample authorities for national purposes, appears to 
me the very climax of popular absurdity and mad- 
ness. Could Congress exert them for the detriment 
of the people, without injuring themselves in an 
equal or greater proportion ? Are not their interests 
inseparably connected with those of their constit- 
uents ? Many are of opinion that Congress have too 
frequently made use of the suppliant humble tone of 
requisition in applications to the States, when they 



142 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

had a right to assert their imperial dignity and com- 
mand obedience. Be that as it may, requisitions are 
a perfect nullity, where thirteen sovereign, indepen- 
dent, disunited States are in the habit of discussing, 
and refusing or complying with them at their option. 
Requisitions are actually little better than a jest and 
a bye-word throughout the land. If you tell the 
legislatures they have violated the treaty of peace, 
and invaded the prerogatives of the confederacy, they 
will laugh in your face. What then is to be done? 
Things cannot go in the same train forever. It is 
much to be feared, as you observe, that the better 
kind of people, being disgusted with these circum- 
stances, will have their minds prepared for any revo- 
lution whatever. We are apt to run from one ex- 
treme into another. To anticipate and prevent dis- 
astrous contingencies, would be the part of wisdom 
and patriotism." 

Such was the difference of opinion entertained by 
these distinguished men in reference to the vital 
principles of the government. Washington and his 
trusted associate Hamilton placed no extravagant 
confidence in the virtues of the masses ; but thought 
that they needed to be governed and restrained by 
the force of law and the corrective influence of less 
popular and more exclusive elements. Jefferson on 
the contrary loudly proclaimed himself a democrat, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 143 

an admirer of the masses of the people. He regarded 
the Vox populi as the Vox Dei.'' He pretended the 
most unbounded confidence in the wisdom, impar- 
tiality and justice of the multitude, and regarded 
with suspicion the encroachments of the more 
wealthy, intelligent and cultivated few upon the 
rights of the many. He feared that if the Federal 
government were invested with strong powers it 
would crush the freedom of the several States, in- 
fringe the rights of the State governments, and lead 
to tyranny under another form and name, but not 
less detestable in character, than that of Great Brit- 
ain herself. 

Whatever serious apprehensions Mr. Jefferson may 
have indulged in reference to the operation of the 
Federal Constitution, the steady lapse of time has 
now clearly proved their fallacy. The respective 
powers and prerogatives of the States and of the gen- 
eral government were so wisely balanced, so evenly 
proportioned, and so admirably adjusted by it, that 
no storms or convulsions hovrever furious, have yet 

* This adage, Vo^v 2:)opuli, vox Dei. is true, if by the Deity 
referred to, is meant the gods of ancient Greece and Rome ; 
for very frequently the " voice of the people" resembles that 
of Bacchus, roaring after more drink ; or that of Plutus, crav- 
ing after greater riches ; or that of Venus, inviting to im- 
purity and lust ; while once in a long while you hear a gentle 
whisper which reminds you of Minerva, and urging you to 
the pursuit and attainment of wisdom ! 



144 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

been able to weaken or injure it. It is not improb- 
able that had Mr. Jefferson been a member of the 
Federal Convention, he would have succeeded in in- 
troducing more popular features into the Constitu- 
tion than now exist in it ; but whether such a change 
would have operated more beneficially for the in- 
terests of the nation, and for the perpetuity of its 
power and unity, may well be doubted. 

During the period of Mr. Jefferson^s absence in 
Europe, he embraced the opportunity thus afforded 
him, to enjoy the pleasures and advantages of foreign 
travel. He desired to see the great canal of Lan- 
guedoc "^ in order to acquire a knowledge of inland 
navigation, which could afterward be made available 
in his own country. He desired also to visit the sea- 
ports of the Mediterranean, and examine there the 
practical effects of the recent commercial regulations 
which had been established with tlie United States. 
He left Paris in the beginning of March, 1787. He 
traveled through Champagne, Burgundy, Dauphine, 
Languedoc, and the north of Italy. He visited Mar- 
seilles, Nantes, Bordeaux, Nimes, Nice, and trav- 
eled through a portion of Germany and Holland. 
He returned to Paris on the 11th of June. Speak- 

* This gigantic work connects the Bay of Biscay v/ith the 
Mediterranean. It is 148 miles long, its highest point is 600 
feet above the level of the sea, and it contains 100 locks and 
50 aqueducts. It waa completed in the year 1681. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 145 

ing of this journey to Lafayette he says, as illus- 
trative of its great advantages and its pleasures : " It 
will be a great comfort for you to know, from your 
own inspection, the condition of all the provinces of 
your own country, and it will be interesting to them, 
at some future day, to be known to you. This is 
perhaps the only moment of your life in which you 
can acquire that knowledge. And to do it most ef- 
fectually you must be absolutely incognito ; you must 
ferret the people out of their hovels as I have done; 
look into their kettles; eat their bread; loll on their 
beds, under pretence of resting yourself, but in fact 
to find if they are soft. You will feel a sublime 
pleasure in the course of this investigation, and a 
sublimer one hereafter, when you shall be able to ap- 
ply your knowledge to the softening of their beds, or 
the throwing a morsel of meat into their kettle of 
vegetables." 

In July he resumed his negotiations with M. de 
Montmorin, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 
reference to the pending treaty between France and 
the United States. While thus engaged in the per- 
formance of the difficult duties of his post, he was 
not an idle observer of the important events which 
were then passing around him in France. The great 
Revolution * had commenced, and its mighty surges 

* The French Revolution, he^inn'mg in 1789, was one of 
the most convulsive political upheavals in all history, 
10 



146 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

were sweeping in furious eddies to and fro, and 
dashing to the earth the monuments and institutions 
of the past. He expresses himeif in the following 
language in reference to those events, the principles 
involved, and the results which they produced : 

" The deed which closed the mortal course of these 
sovereigns I shall neither approve nor condemn. I 
am not prepared to say that the first magistrate of a 
nation cannot conamit treason against his country, or 
is unamenable to its punishment ; nor yet that there 
is no written law, no regulated tribunal, there is not a 
law in our hearts, and a power in our hands, given 
for righteous employment in maintaining right and 
redressing wrong. Of those who judged the king, 
many thought him wilfully criminal; many that his 
existence would keep the nation in perpetual conflict 
with the horde of kings who would war against a re- 
generation which might come home to themselves, 
and that it were better that one should die than all. 
I should not have voted with this portion of the legis- 
lature. I should have shut up the queen in a con- 
vent, putting harm out of her power, and placed the 
king in his station, investing him with limited 
powers, which I verily believe he would have honestly 
exercised according to the measure of his under- 
standing. In this way no void would have been 
created, courting the usurpation of a military ad- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. I47 

venturer, nor occasion given for those enormities 
which demoralized the nations of the world, and de- 
stroyed, and is yet to destroy millions and millions of 
inhabitants. There are three epochs in history sig- 
nalized by the total extinction of national morality. 
The first was of the successors of Alexander, not 
omitting himself ; the next the successors of the first 
Caesar; the third our own age. This was begun by 
the partition of Poland, followed by that of the treaty 
of Pilnitz; next the conflagration of Copenhagen; 
then the enormities of Bonaparte, partitioning the 
earth at his will, and devastating it with fire and 
sword." 

He thus describes the state of France and of the 
French people in the midst of that great struggle. 
We quote from a letter to Col. Humphreys, dated 
18th March, 1789 : " The change in this country 
since you left it, is such as you can form no idea of. 
The frivolities of conversation have given way en- 
tirely to politics. Men, women and children talk 
nothing else; and all you know talk a great deal. 
The press groans with daily productions which in 
point of boldness makes an Englishman stare, who 
hitherto has thought himself the boldest of men. A 
complete revolution in this government has within 
the space of two years (for it began with the ITotables 
of 1787,) been effected merely by the force of public 



148 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

opinion, aided indeed by the want of money, which 
the dissipations of the court had brought on. And 
this revolution has not cost a single life, unless we 
charge it to a little riot lately in Bretagne, which be- 
gan about the price of bread, became afterward po- 
litical, and ended in the loss of four or five lives." 

It may readily be supposed that Mr. Jefferson 
changed his opinion materially of the merits of this 
revolution, of its actors and of its results, before their 
career was concluded. Like many more, he regarded 
it at its commencement as a " spirit of grace," but 
before its termination, he detested it as a ^' goblm 
damned ! " 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Convocation of the States-General of France — Jefferson's 
Description of French Parties — Jefferson's Plan for the 
Settlement of the Kingdom— His Return to the United 
States— His Reception at Monbicello— He is Invited by 
Washington to Become Secretary of State— He Accepts 
the Offer— His Views on the Question of Public Credit— 
His Reports on the Coinage, Weights and Measures— His 
Letter to the National Assembly of France on the Death 
of Franklin— His Views on the United States Br.nk. 

As the thrilling events of the French Revolution 
progressed, Mr. Jefferson took a deeper interest in 
their effects and probable results. He was present 
on the 5th of May, 1789,* at the memorable convoca- 
tion of the States-General which had been summoned 
by the unfortunate Louis XVI., and which had not 
been convened before for several centuries. To that 
assembly the whole French nation looked with intense 
emotions of mingled hope and fear. The higher 
orders were justly apprehensive that its deliberations 
and its acts might lead to the destruction of their an- 
cient privileges, and to the enfranchisement of the 
people. The latter anticipated that this convocation 

* This date is memorable as a, if not the starting point of 
the French Revolution. 

149 



150 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

would become a new era in the history of the nation ; 
that it would be the birthday of liberty; that the 
wrongs and despotism of the past would be over- 
turned ; that the great evils which centuries of kingly 
and princely pomp, extravagance, tyranny, corrup- 
tion and pride had produced, would then be remedied 
and forever removed, l^or were they disappointed 
in the realization of many of their hopes. 

On the opening of the States-General, when scenes 
of imposing religious solemnity and splendor adorned 
the vast cathedral of l^otre-Dame in Paris, when the 
crumbling monarchy once more and for the last time 
displayed its ancient grandeur, and when the upris- 
ing people and their representatives for the first time 
assumed a portentous air of dignity and power — in 
that immense assemblage, when all the magnificence 
of the decrepit monarchy was combined with all the 
intellectual vigor and moral grandeur of the indig- 
nant nation, represented by the men whose names 
were destined very soon afterward to acquire a world- 
wide but a bloody and revolting celebrity — in that 
assemblage Jefferson mingled, and surveyed the pro- 
ceedings with a scrutinizing eye. Robespierre and 
Danton * were there, though then unknown to fame. 

* Robespierre and Danton were two of the bloodiest fiends 
developed by the French Revolution, and that ruled in the 
Reipjn of Terror. Both, however, met with poetic justice and 
perished by the guillotine. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 151 

^JTapoleon Bonaparte was also there, though still more 
insignificant and ohscure. And he who had penned 
the great charter of a nation's freedom, which had al- 
ready heen bought and secured by a nation's blood, 
looked on, and congratulated himself there that his 
own land had already happily passed through the 
crisis which was then just commencing in the country 
of his sojourn.* His opinion of the state of parties 
in France may be inferred from the following letter, 
addressed to Mr. Jay : " 1. The aristocrats, com- 
prehending the higher members of the clergy, mili- 
tary, nobility, and the parliaments of the whole king- 
dom. This forms a head without a body. 2. The 
moderate royalists, who wish for a constitution nearly 
similar to that of England. 3. The republicans, 
who are willing to let their first magistracy be hered- 
itary, but to make it very subordinate to the legisla- 
ture, and to have that legislature consist of a single 
chamber. 4. The faction of Orleans. The second 
and third descriptions are composed of honest, well- 
meaning men, differing in opinion only, but both 
wishing the establishment of as great a degree of 
liberty as can be preserved. They are considered as 
constituting the patriotic part of the Assembly, and 

* Diirins: Mr. Jefferson's absence in Paris, the University in 
Harvard conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of 
Laws. This title, like other literary and scientific titles, was 
worth something at that period of our country's history. 



152 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

they are supported by the soldiery of the army, the 
soldiery of the clergy, that is to say, the cures and 
monks, the dissenters and part of the nobility which 
is small, and the substantial Bourgeosie of the whole 
nation." 

During the progress of events, Mr. Jefferson was 
requested by Lafayette to suggest a plan for the guid- 
ance of the revolutionists, and to give him his advice 
as to the best policy to be pursued. He suggested 
that the king in a seance royale should come forward 
with a charter in his hand, to be signed by himself 
and all the members of the three Orders; and that 
this charter should contain the five great points which 
the Resultat of December offered on the part of the 
king, the abolition of the pecuniary privileges of the 
higher orders, the assumption of the national debt, 
and a grant of the sums asked from the nation. The 
charter of rights which Jefferson drew up for Lafay- 
ette consisted of the following ten articles : 

" 1. The States-General shall assemble uncalled 
on the first day of November annually, and shall 
remain together so long as they shall see cause. They 
shall regulate their own elections and proceedings; 
and until they shall ordain otherwise, their elections 
shall be in the form observed in the present year, and 
shall be triennial. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. I53 

" 2. The States-General alone shall levy money on 
the nation, and shall appropriate. 

" 3. Laws shall be made by the States-General 
only, with the consent of the king. 

^* 4. 'No person shall be restrained of his liberty 
but by regular process from a court of justice, au- 
thorized by a general law. (Except that a noble may 
be imprisoned by order of a court of justice, on the 
prayer of twelve of his nearest relations.) On com- 
plaint of an unlawful imprisonment to any judge 
whatever, he shall have the prisoner immediately 
brought before him, and shall discharge him if his 
imprisonment be unlawful. The officer in whose 
custody the prisoner is shall obey the orders of the 
judge, and both judge and officer shall be responsi- 
ble, civilly and criminally, for a failure of duty 
herein. 

" 5. The military shall be subordinate to the civil 
authority. 

" 6. Printers shall be liable to legal prosecution 
for printing and publishing false facts, injurious to 
the party prosecuting; but they shall be under no 
other restraint. 

'^ 7. All pecuniary privileges and exemptions en- 
joyed by any description of persons are abolished. 

'^ 8. All debts already contracted by the king are 



154 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

hereby made the debts of the nation, and the faith 
thereof is pledged for their payment in due time. 

^* 9. Eighty millions of livres * are now granted 
to the king, to be raised by loan, and reimbursed by 
the nation ; and the taxes heretofore paid shall con- 
tinue to be paid to the end of the present year and 
no longer. 

" 10. The States-General shall now separate, and 
meet again on the 1st day of November next." 

Having concluded his diplomatic duties in the 
Prench capital, Mr. Jefferson left Paris on the 26th 
of September, 1789. He had resided in France 
more than five years. He had been addressed pre- 
vious to his return, by Mr. Madison, Avho had in- 
quired of him whether he would accept any appoint- 
ment at home; but in reply he had stated that he 
desired retirement ; that all his appointments to office 
had been contrary to his own wishes (a declaration 
which was not strictly true) ; and that his object in 
withdrawing from the French mission was to resume 
his agricultural pursuits, and the enjoyment of total 
seclusion and rest. 

He left Havre on the 8th of October, accompanied 
by his two daughters. He journeyed to Cowes, 
where he had taken passage in a vessel for Virginia. 

* Tho livre, a coin no longer used, was worth nineteen and 
a half cents. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 155 

He was delayed at the Isle of Wight by contrary 
weather until the 2 2d. In consequence of a special 
application to Mr. Pitt from Colonel Trumbull, his 
baggage was exempted from search by the officers of 
the customs. His return voyage was prosperous; 
and on the thirtieth day after his embarcation he 
landed at Norfolk. The dangers of the voyage clus- 
tered around its termination. As the vessel ap- 
proached the coast a heavy mist prevailed and hid 
the land from view. For three days they beat about, 
looking for a pilot in vain. At length the captain 
boldly ran the vessel within the capes, and thus 
avoided the fury of a storm which in a few hours af- 
terward swept the coast. Subsequent to this the ves- 
sel took fire, but the flames were subdued without any 
damage to Mr. Jefferson's baggage and papers. 

Having disembarked he journeyed toward Monti- 
cello. There being no public conveyance at that time 
in that region, he was indebted to his friends for the 
means of reaching home. At Effington, on the way, 
he received a letter from General Washington invit- 
ing him to accept the office of Secretary of State. At 
length, on the 23d of December, he arrived at Monti- 
cello. His daughter, Mrs. Randolph, thus describes 
the scene which ensued : " The negroes discovered 
the approach of the carriage as soon as it reached 
Shadwell, and such a scene I never witnessed in my 



156 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

life. They collected in crowds around it, and almost 
drew it up the mountain bv hand. The shouting, 
&c., had been sufficiently obstreperous before, but the 
moment the carriage arrived on the top it reached the 
climax. WHien the door of the carriage was opened, 
they received him in their arms and bore him into 
the house, crowding around and kissing his hands and 
feet — some blubbering and crying — others laughing. 
It appeared impossible to satisfy their eyes, or their 
anxiety to touch and even kiss the very earth that 
bore him. These were the first ebullitions of joy for 
his return after a long absence, which they would 
of course feel, but it is perhaps not out of place to add 
here that they w^ere at all times very devoted in 
their attachment to him. They believed him to be 
one of the greatest, and they knew him to be one of 
the best of men and kindest of masters. They spoke to 
him freely, and applied confidingly to him in all their 
difficulties and distresses ; and he watched over them 
in sickness and in health; interested himself in all 
their concerns; advising them, and showing esteem 
and confidence in the good, and indulgence to alL" 

Immediately after his return home, Mr. Jefferson's 
eldest daughter Martha was married to Mr. Thomas 
M. Randolph, eldest son of the Tuckahoe branch of 
the Randolphs. This gentleman afterward became 
Governor of Virginia. He had first seen Miss Jef- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 157 

ferson during a visit to Paris. At the same period 
Mr. Jefferson received a second letter from the Pres- 
ident urging his acceptance of the office of Secretary 
of State, leaving him at the same time at liberty to 
follow his own inclinations. After some deliberation 
he accepted the appointment. He left Monticello for 
New York, where the Federal Government was then 
located, on the 1st of March, 1790. 

At Philadelphia he called on Dr. Franklin, who 
was then on his death-bed, and who conversed with 
him with the resignation of a philosopher, and the 
animation of an enthusiast for liberty. The doctor 
confided to him a manuscript memoir of his life, 
which Mr. Jefferson, under a mistaken idea of the 
trust reposed in him, afterward delivered into the 
hands of his grandson, William Temple Franklin. 
This memoir Mr. Jefferson represents as containing 
valuable details ; among others he thus relates a very 
important one : " I remember," he says, speaking 
of secret negotiations of Franklin to accommodate 
matters between the Colonies and Great Britain, 
" that Lord North's answers were dry, unyielding, in 
the spirit of unconditional submission, and betrayed 
an absolute indifference to the occurrence of a rup- 
ture ; and he said to the mediators distinctly, at last, 
that ' a rehellion was not to he deprecated on the part 
of Great Britain; that the confiscation it would pro- 



158 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

duce would provide for many of their friends.* This 
expression was reported by the mediators to Dr. 
Tranklin. Here the negotiation stopped." 

Mr. Jefferson reached E'ew York on the 20th of 
March, while Congress was in session, and com- 
menced his duties as the second officer in the gov- 
ernment. He was associated with Alexander Hamil- 
ton as Secretary of the Treasury, General Knox as 
Secretary of War, Edmund Randolph as Attorney- 
General. The second session of Congress under the 
administration of Washington commenced on the 4th 
of January, 1790. Its first deliberations were in 
reference to the elaborate and able report of Mr. 
Hamilton on the subject of the public credit, which 
had been submitted to Congress. That report laid 
the foundation for a new division of parties, which 
continued to prevail during four successive adminis- 
trations. This report contended that the debts of the 
individual States contracted during the Revolution 
should be assumed by the general government ; that 
the United States were bound to pay the interest as 
well as the principal of these public debts; that no 
distinction should be made between original holders 
of the evidences of these debts and those who had pur- 
chased them at a discount ; and to diminish the part 
due to domestic creditors, not by greater taxation, but 
by giving them a satisfactory equivalent. This re- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. I59 

port called forth the most spirited debates in Con- 
gress. Mr. Jefferson arrived at the seat of g'overn- 
ment in the midst of it. His views of the state of the 
controversy may be gathered from the following ex- 
tract from his writings : 

" Here certainly I found a state of things which 
of all I had ever contemplated, I the least expected. 
I had left France in the first year of her revolution, 
in the fervor of natural rights and zeal for reforma- 
tion. My conscientious devotion to these rights 
could not be heightened, but it had been aroused and 
excited by daily exercise. The President received 
me cordially, and my colleagues and the circle of 
principal citizens apparently with welcome. The 
courtesies of dinner-parties given me, as a stranger 
newly arrived among them, placed me at once in their 
familiar society. But I cannot describe the wonder 
and mortification with which the table conversation 
filled me. Politics were the chief topic, and a pref- 
erence of kingly over republican government was evi- 
dently the favorite sentiment. An apostate I could 
not be, nor yet a hypocrite ; and I found myself for 
the most part the only advocate on the republican side 
of the question, unless among the guests there chanced 
to be some member of that party from the legislative 
houses. Hamilton's financial system had then 
passed. It had two objects ; 1st. As a puzzle, to ex- 



160 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

elude popular understanding and inquiry; 2d. As a 
machine for the corruption of the legislature ; for he 
avowed the opinion that man could be governed by 
one of two motives only, force or interest; force, he 
observed, in this country was out of the question, and 
the interest therefore of the members must be laid 
hold of, to keep the legislature in unison with the 
executive. And with grief and shame is must be ac- 
knowledged that his machine was not without effect ; 
that even in this, the birth of our government, some 
members were found sordid enough to bend their 
duty to their interests, and to look after personal 
rather than public good." 

^\Tiatever may have been the mercenary motives of 
some members of Congress who supported the policy 
recommended in Mr. Hamilton's report, it is absurd 
to charge him with a design to corrupt the legislature, 
or to promote his personal interests. The whole his- 
tory of this memorable era proves that one of the 
most disinterested men, possessing the sternest in- 
tegrity and honesty of purpose, who ever moved amid 
its stirring scenes, was the Secretary of the Treasury. 

A compromise was at length effected between the 
contending factions, in reference to which Mr. Jef- 
ferson speaks as follows : 

" This game was over, and another was on the 
carpet at the moment of my arrival; and to this I 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 161 

was most ignorantly and innocently made to hold the 
candle. This fiscal manoeuvre is well known by the 
name of the Assmnption. Independently of the 
debts of Congress, the States had during the war con- 
tracted separate and heavy debts; and Massachusetts 
particularly, in an absurd attempt; absurdly con- 
ducted, on the British post of Penobscot ; and the 
more debt Hamilton could rake up the more plunder 
for his mercenaries. This money, whether wisely or 
foolishly spent, was pretended to have been spent for 
general purposes, and ought therefore to be paid 
from the general purse. But it was objected that no- 
body knew what these debts were, what their amount, 
or what their proofs. iSTo matter; we will guess 
them to be twenty millions. But of these twenty 
millions we do not know how much should be reim- 
bursed to one State, or how much to another. ISTo 
matter ; we will guess. And so another scramble was 
set on foot among the several States, and some got 
much, some little, some nothing. But the main ob- 
ject was obtained, the phalanx of the treasury was re- 
inforced by additional recruits. 

" This measure produced the most bitter and angry 
contest ever known in Congress, before or since the 
union of the States. I arrived in the midst of it. 
But a stranger to the ground, a stranger to the actors 
on it, so long absent as to have lost all familiarity 
II 



162 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

with the subject, and as yet unaware of its object, I 
took no concern in it. The great and trying ques- 
tion however was lost in the House of Kepresenta- 
tives. So high were the feuds excited by this sub- 
ject, that on its rejection, business w^as suspended. 
Congress met and adjourned from day to day with- 
out doing any thing; the parties being too much out 
of temper to do business together. The eastern 
members particularly, who with Smith from South 
Carolina were the principal gamblers in these scenes, 
threatened a secession and dissolution. Hamilton 
was in despair. As I was going to the president's 
one day, I met him in the street. He walked me 
backward and forward before the president's door for 
half an hour. He painted pathetically the temper 
into which the legislature had been wrought ; the dis- 
gust of those who were called the creditor States; 
the danger of the secession of their members, and the 
separation of the States. He observed that the mem- 
bers of the administration ought to act in concert; 
that though this question was not of my department, 
yet a common duty should make it a common con- 
cern ; that the president was the centre on which all 
administrative questions ultimately rested, and that 
all of us should rally round him and support with 
joint efforts measures approved by him ; and that the 
question having been lost by a small majority only, it 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 163 

was probable that an appeal from me to the judg- 
ment and discretion of some of my friends might ef- 
fect a change in the vote, and the machine of govern- 
ment, now suspended, might be again set in motion. 
"I told him that I was really a stranger to the whole 
subject ; that not having yet informed myself of the 
system of finance adopted, I knew not how far this 
was a necessary sequence ; that undoubtedly if its re- 
jection endangered a dissolution of our Union at this 
incipient stage, I should deem that the most unfor- 
tunate of all consequences, to avert which all partial 
and temporary evils should be yielded. I proposed 
to him, however, to dine with me the next day, and I 
would invite another friend or two, bring them into 
conference together, and I thought it impossible that 
reasonable men, consulting together coolly, could fail 
by some mutual sacrifices of opinion, to form a com- 
promise which was to save the Union. The discus- 
sion took place. I could take no part in it but an 
exhortatory one, because I was a stranger to the cir- 
cumstances which should govern it. But it was 
finally agreed that whatever importance had been 
attached to the rejection of this proposition, the pre- 
servation of the Union and of concord among the 
States was more important, and that therefore it 
would be better that the vote of rejection should be 
rescinded, to effect which some members should 



164 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

change their votes. But it was observed that this 
bill would be peculiarly bitter to the Southern States, 
and that some concomitant measure should be adopted 
to sweeten it a little to them. There had before 
been propositions to fix the seat of government either 
at Philadelphia or at Georgetown, on the Potomac; 
and it was thought that by giving it to Philadelphia 
for ten years, and to Georgetown permanently after- 
ward, this might as an anodyne calm in some degree 
the ferment which might be excited by the other 
measure alone. So two of the Potomac members 
(White and Lee, but White with a revulsion of 
stomach almost convulsive) agreed to change their 
votes, and Hamilton undertook to carry the other 
point. In doing this, the influence he had estab- 
lished over the eastern members, with the agency of 
Robert Morris with those of the middle States, ef- 
fected his side of the engagement ; and so the assump- 
tion was passed, and twenty millions of stock divided 
among favored States, and thrown in as a pabulum to 
the stock-jobbing herd. This added to the number 
of votaries to the treasury, and made its chief the 
master of every vote in the legislature which might 
give to the government the direction suited to his po- 
litical views." 

During the progress of 1790 Mr. Jefferson made 
two reports to Congress on subjects referred by them 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 165 

to him. One of these was in reference to a propo- 
sition made by an individual in England to furnish 
the United States with a supply of copper coinage. 
On this subject he held the doctrine that coinage 
being an attribute of sovereignty, it should not be sub- 
mitted to another sovereign; that to exercise it in 
a foreign country would be on many accounts incon- 
venient, and was without an example; and he there- 
fore opposed the proposition and recommended that 
a Mint be established at home. 

The other report had reference to the subject of 
weights and measures. It recommended the pendu- 
lum in the latitude of 45° north, as the standard of 
lineal and other measures, and rain water at a given 
temperature as the standard of weight. It further 
recommended a system of decimal divisions both for 
measures and weights. The report on the coinage 
was adopted. The other seems never to have re- 
ceived any action of the legislature, and the reform 
on that subject remains to this day one of the 
desiderata of federal legislation.* 

In March, 1791, Mr. Jefferson, by order of the 
President, addressed a letter to the President of the 
National Assembly of France in answer to their de- 

* What is known as the metric system was adopted in 
France in 1799 and legalized in the United States in 1866. 
The system is by law permissible not mandatory, and has 
made little progress in this country. 



166 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

cree of the llth of June, paying a just tribute to the 
memory and the virtues of Dr. Franklin, then re- 
cently deceased. A portion of that letter is as fol- 
lows : 

^' The loss of such a citizen should be lamented 
by us, among whom he lived, whom he so long and 
eminently served, and who feel their country ad- 
vanced and honored by his birth, life and labors, 
was to be expected. But it remained for the Na- 
tional Assembly of France to set the first example of 
the representatives of one nation doing homage, by a 
public act, to the private citizen of another, and by 
withdrawing arbitrary lines of separation, to reduce 
into one fraternity the good and the great, wherever 
they have lived or died. 

" That these separations may disappear between us 
in all times and circumstances, and that the union of 
sentiment which mingles our sorrows on this occasion 
may continue long to cement the friendship and the 
interests of our two nations, is our constant prayer. 
With no one is it more sincere than with him who, in 
being charged with the honor of conveying a public 
sentiment, is permitted that of expressing the homage 
of profound respect, with which he is, sir, your most 
obedient and most humble servant." 

Another question which was warmly discussed in 
the cabinet between the great opposing leaders of 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 167 

the federal and republican parties * — Hamilton and 
Jefferson — was that of the incorporation of the 
United States Bank. 

That measure having produced a deep excitement 
in both Houses of Congress, as involving fundamen- 
tal principles of constitutional power, naturally 
awakened the patriotism of Washington, which in- 
duced him to pause and deliberate with his usual 
coolness and ability, before he decided upon its final 
adoption. For this purpose he requested a written 
investigation of the merits of the question from Mr. 
Jefferson, in common with the other members of his 
cabinet; in complying with which this statesman 
exhibited a power of reasoning not inferior in bril- 
liancy to that solidity of principle upon which he 
rested as the foundation of his arguments. Simple, 
broad, and comprehensive in his premises, he went 
upon the axiom that a limited constitution, restricted 
by special grants of power, could not authorize a 
sovereign exercise of authority, which no part of 

* The two great political parties in the early history of the 
United States, were the Federalists, led by Washington, 
Hniiiilton, Adams, and Jay, and the Antifederalists whose 
leader was Jefferson. The Federalists stood for the concen- 
tration of power and were by their opponents called mono- 
crats, monarchists, and aristocrats. The Antifederalists 
changed their name to Republican, then Republican-Demo- 
crat, then to Democrat. The Republican party formed in 
1793 is not to be confounded with that founded in 1854, 



168 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

that instrument allowed or granted in express terms ; 
that the power to create a national bank was in its 
very nature one too vast and influential over the whole 
rights and interests of the people, to be either a 
necessary or an incidental power to others expressly 
granted; and that it w^ere better for the harmony 
and success of the whole Union, to forego the exer- 
cise of a doubtful power than to breed endless dis- 
sensions and heart-burnings, by assuming an author- 
ity which could not be sustained by the letter of the 
Constitution, to observe which the government was 
bound in the exercise of substantive powers. In this 
elucidation of one of the most controverted features 
of the federal government, he was decidedly opposed 
by the eloquent and brilliant exposition of Alexander 
Hamilton, who reasoning on opposite principles, and 
leaning to a government of more comprehensive and 
energetic nature, naturally carried with him the al- 
ready prepossessed judgment of the President. But 
neither the force of Hamilton's reasoning nor the 
hourly augmenting weight of the influence of Wash- 
ington himself, have been able to settle this disputed 
question ; while the edifice of free principles erected 
by the republican logic of Jefferson will forever re- 
main a monument of that inflexible and uncompro- 
mising democracy which made him so emphatically 
the man of the people; and which have consecrated 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 169 

his opinions upon this subject as a perpetual rallying 
point for the advocates of free principles, State 
rights, and the equality of privileges throughout 
every portion of this great confederacy. 



CHAPTEE X. 

Disputes in the Cabinet of Washington— Jefferson's State- 
ment of Hamilton's Views— Hamilton's Superiority— Mr. 
Jefferson's Purpose of Retiring— Giles' Resolutions- 
Jefferson's Vindication of Himself— His Profound and 
Able Opinion in Reference to tlie War with France— Con- 
duct of Genet, the French Minister— The Little Democrat 
— Genet's Recall— Jefferson's Description of his Associates 
in the Cabinet. 

The great difference of sentiment which existed 
between Jefferson and Hamilton rendered it im- 
possible that much harmony should exist between 
them, either in the deliberations of the cabinet or 
in the active measures of the administration. These 
differences increased with the progress of time, and 
gradually took the form of personal antagonism and 
hostility. In April, 1791, Washington visited the 
Southern States; and during his absence it became 
necessary for the members of the cabinet to consult 
together without the presence and the restraining in- 
fluence of the President. On one occasion Mr. 
Jefferson invited Mr. Adams, the Vice President, 
Mr. Hamilton, General Knox and Mr. Randolph to 
dinner; and Mr. Jefferson has left on record an 

account of the opinions uttered by Mr. Hamilton on 

170 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 171 

that occasion, for the purpose of illustrating the dif- 
ference of sentiment existing between them, and to 
show what Mr. Jefferson held to be the anti-republi- 
can doctrines entertained by his rival. Jefferson 
went so far as to charge Hamilton with being in 
favor of a union with England, and that he thought 
the death of Washington would prove the termination 
of the existence of the Federal Government. But of 
the truth of these charges there is not the slightest 
evidence. The following statement of the opinions 
expressed by Mr. Hamilton on the occasion above re- 
ferred to, possesses great interest; and for the truth 
of the narrative, Mr. Jefferson solemnly says, " I at- 
test the God who made me ! " 

" After the cloth was removed and our question 
argued and dismissed, conversation began on other 
matters, and by some circumstance was led to the 
British constitution, on wdiich Mr. Adams observed, 
^ Purge that constitution of its corruption, and give 
to its popular branch equality of representation, and 
it would be the most perfect constitution ever de- 
vised by the wit of man.' Hamilton paused and 
said, ' Purge it of its corruption, and give to its po] 
ular branch equality of representation, and it won'- 
become an impracticable government; as it stands at 
present, with all its supposed defects, it is the most 
perfect government which ever existed.' And this 



172 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

was assuredly the exact line which separated the po- 
litical creeds of these two gentlemen. The one was 
for two hereditary branches and an honest elective 
one ; the other for an hereditary king, with a house of 
lords and commons corrupted to his will, and stand- 
ing between him and the people. Hamilton was in- 
deed a singular character. Of acute understanding, 
disinterested, honest and honorable in all private 
transactions, amiable in society, and duly valuing 
virtue in private life, yet so bewitched and perverted 
by the British example, as to be under thorough con- 
viction that corruption was essential to the govern- 
ment of a nation. Mr. Adams had originally been a 
republican. The glare of royalty and nobility, dur- 
ing his mission to England, had made him believe 
their fascination a necessary ingredient in govern- 
ment ; and Shay's rebellion, not sufficiently under- 
stood where he then was, seemed to prove that the 
absence of want and oppression was not a sufficient 
guarantee of order. His book on the American Con- 
stitution having made known his political bias, he 
was taken up by the monarchial federalists in his 
absence, and on his return to the United States he was 
by them made to believe that the general disposition 
of our citizens was favorable to monarchy. He here 
wrote his ' Davila ' as a supplement to the former 
work, and his election to the Presidency confirmed 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 173 

bim in his errors. Innumerable addresses too, art- 
fully and industriously poured in upon him, de- 
ceived him into a confidence that he was on the pin- 
nacle of popularity when the gulf was yawning at 
his feet which was to swallow up him and his de- 
ceivers. For when General Washington was with- 
drawn, these energumeni [men, possessed by devils] 
of royalism, kept in check hitherto by the dread of 
his honesty, his firmness, his patriotism, and the au- 
thority of his name, now mounted on the car of state, 
and free from control, like Phaeton on that of the 
sun, drove headlong and wild, looking neither to right 
nor left, nor regarding any thing but the objects they 
were driving at, until displaying these fully, the eyes 
of the nation were opened, and a general disbandment 
of them from the public councils took place.'^ 

On another occasion Mr. Jefferson writes that Mr. 
Hamilton having condemned Mr. Adams' writings, 
and particularly " Davila," as being opposed to the 
true policy of Washington's administration, pro- 
ceeded to say : 

" ^ I own it is my opinion, though I do not publish 
it in Dan or Beersheba, that the present government 
is not that which will answer the ends of society, by 
giving stability and protection to its rights, and that 
it will probably be found expedient to go into the 
British form. However, since we have undertaken 



174 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

the experiment, I am for giving it a fair course, 
whatever mj expectations may be. The success in- 
deed, so far, is greater than I had expected, and 
therefore at present success seems more probable than 
it had done heretofore, and there are still other and 
other stages of improvement which, if the present does 
not succeed, may be tried, and ought to be tried before 
v^e give up the republican form altogether; for that 
mind must be really depraved which would not prefer 
the equality of political rights, which is the founda- 
tion of pure republicanism, if it can be obtained con- 
sistently with order. Therefore whoever by his writ- 
ings disturbs the present order of things is really 
blamable, however pure his attentions may be, and he 
was sure Mr. Adams^ were pure.' This is the sub- 
stance of a declaration made in much more lengthy 
terms, and which seemed to be more formal than 
usual for a private conversation between two, and as 
if intended to qualify some less guarded expression 
which had been dropped on former occasions. 
Thomas Jefferson has committed it to writing in the 
moment of A. Hamilton's leaving the room," 

Yet it is but justice to Mr. Jefferson to say that, 
notwithstanding his frequent collisions with Mr. 
Hamilton, and the personal and political rivalry 
which existed between them, he possessed magnanim- 
ity enough on some occasions to render a tribute of 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 175 

praise to his great talents. Thus at a subsequent 
period, in reference to the treaty with England ne- 
gotiated by Mr. Jay, he says: 

" Hamilton is really a Colossus to the anti-repub- 
lican party; without numbers he is a host within 
himself. They have got themselves into a defile, 
where they might be finished ; but too much security 
on the republican part will give time to his talents 
and indefatigableness to extricate them. In truth 
when he comes forward there is nobody but yourself 
who can meet him. 

'' The merchants were certainly (except those of 
them who are English) as open-mouthed at first 
against the treaty as any. But the general expres- 
sion of indignation has alarmed them for the strength 
of the government. They have feared the shock 
would be too great, and have chosen to tack about and 
support both treaty and government, rather than 
risk the government." He thus concludes : " There 
appears a pause at present in the public sentiment 
which may be followed by a revulsion. This is the 
effect of the desertion of the merchants, of the presi- 
dent's chiding answer to Boston and Richmond, of 
the writings of Curtius and Camillus,* and of the 

* Camillus was the pseudonym of Alexander Hamilton. 
The author of the letters of Curtius is not certainly known, 
but is supposed to be John Taylor, a Virginia lawyer and 
statesman who was ardently devoted to the interests of 



176 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

quietism into which people naturally fall after first 
sensations are over. For God's sake take up your 
pen and give a fundamental reply to Curtius and 
Camillus.'^ 

In consequence of the dissensions in the cabinet 
Mr. Jefferson began to contemplate, as early as Feb- 
ruary, 1792, his retirement from the post which he 
held in it. He also perceived that notwithstanding 
his utmost efforts to undermine his influence, Hamil- 
ton really controlled the judgment and measures of 
the President. He thought the influence and patron- 
age attached to the Treasury department absorbed 
that of all the other branches of the government, and 
overshadowed them. The truth was, that prodigious 
genius of Hamilton, his indefatigable energy, the 
versatility of his powers, his elaborate reports, his 
unrivalled eloquence, his facility in the disposal of 
business, and the confidence of the nation in his pa- 
triotism, rendered him the commanding spirit in. 
the administration. ^Notwithstanding the profound 
though less shining abilities of Jefferson, the greater 
glory belonged to his rival. 

Jefferson. He is cliiefly noted for presenting in the legisla- 
ture of Virginia the resolutions of 1798, drafted by Jefferson 
and slightly modified by Madison, which were the earliest 
statement of the extreme doctrine of states rights as finally 
applied by the secessionists in 1861. Jefferson esteemed the 
writings of Taylor '* indispensable to the statesman or tho 
philosopher."— £Froin the National Cyclop, of Am. Biog. j 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 177 

Washington received the intimation of his pro- 
posed Avithdrawal from Mr. Jefferson with sincere 
regret His presence in the cabinet gave stronger 
unity to the nation. He represented the vast repub- 
lican or democratic body in its deliberations, and he 
was a pillar of strength to the administration. 
Washington endeavored to dissuade him from the 
execution of his purpose, and succeeded so far as to 
induce him to postpone it for a time. The differ- 
encesj however, which divided the cabinet were not 
healed. On the 23d of January, 1792, Mr. Giles 
introduced resolutions into the House of Represen- 
tatives, designed to inculpate Mr. Hamilton as Sec- 
retary of the Treasury. These resolutions were pro- 
posed at the instance and with the approbation of 
Mr. Jefferson. In reference to these resolutions, Mr. 
Jefferson thus writes in his diary; under date of 
March 2d : 

" He, (Mr. Giles,) and one or two others, were 
sanguine enough to believe that the palpableness of 
these resolutions rendered it impossible the house 
could reject them. Those who knew the composition 
of the house : 1, of bank directors, 2, holders of bank- 
stock; 3, stock-jobbers; 4, blind devotees; 5, ignorant 
persons, wdio did not comprehend them ; 6, lazy and 
good-humored persons, who comprehended and ac- 
knowledged them, yet were too lazy to examine, or 



178 J^IFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

unwilliug to pronounce censure; the persons who 
knew these characters foresaw that the three first de- 
scriptions making one-third of the house, the three 
latter would make one-half of the residue; and of 
course that they would be rejected by a majority of 
two to one. But they thought that even this re- 
jection would do good, by showing the public the des- 
perate and abandoned dispositions with which their 
affairs were conducted. The resolutions were pro- 
posed, and nothing spared to present them in the full- 
ness of demonstration. There were not more than 
three or four who voted otherwise than had been ex- 
pected." 

The result of this investigation was favorable to 
the integrity of the Secretary of the Treasury, and in 
favor of the wisdom and prudence of the measures 
which he had recommended. This result had not 
tended to increase the kindness of feeling between 
the heads of the two great parties. Hostilities and 
recriminations continued between them. Mr. Jeffer- 
son thus defends himself against some anonymous at- 
tacks in the newspaper, which he attributed, without 
any evidence to support the supposition, to the agency 
of Mr. Hamilton : 

" He charges me — 1. With having written letters 
from Europe to my friends to oppose the present 
Constitution, while depending. 2. With a desire of 




George Washington's First Cabinet.— Page 179. 

Life of Thomas Jefferson. 



Life of thomas jefferson. 179 

not paying the public debt. 3. With setting up a 
paper to decry and slander the government. 

" The first charge is most false. I approved as 
much of the Constitution as most persons, and more 
of it was disapproved by my accuser than by me, and 
of its parts most vitally republican. My objection 
to the Constitution was the want of a bill of fights 
— Colonel Hamilton's that it wanted a king and 
house of lords. The sense of America has approved 
my objection, and added the bill of rights, and not 
the king and lords. I wanted the presidential term 
longer and not renewable ; ' my country thought 
otherwise and I have acquiesced.' As to the public 
debt, he emphatically denies the charge, says he 
wishes " the debt paid off to-morrow ; " Colonel Ham- 
ilton never; but always to remain in existence for 
him to manage and corrupt the legislature." 

Notwithstanding his repeatedly expressed deter- 
mination to retire from office, Mr. Jefferson accepted 
a renewal of his appointment as Secretary of State 
under Washington's second administration, which 
commenced on the 4th of March, 1793. War having 
been declared by France against England, the policy 
of the United States under these circumstances to- 
ward the belligerents became involved in much diffi- 
culty. Washinirton immediately submitted to each 
member of his cabinet a series of propositions in 



180 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

writing on the subject. These same propositions 
were afterward discussed in the cabinet. The main 
question was, whether the existing treaties with 
France were then binding on the United States ? 
The paper drawn up by Mr. Jefferson on this occa- 
sion is remarkable for the originality of its views, the 
vigo^. of its reasoning, and its general ability. 

At this crisis M. Genet w^as appointed French 
minister to the United States. In reference to this 
person, Mr. Jefferson says: 

" Never, in my opinion, was so calamitous an ap- 
pointment made as that of the present minister of 
France here. Hot-headed, all imagination, no judg- 
ment, passionate, disrespectful, and even indecent 
toward the President in his written as well as his 
verbal communications before Congress or the public, 
they will excite indignation. He renders my posi- 
tion immensely difficult. He does me justice per- 
sonally; and giving him time to vent himself, and 
become more cool, I am on a footing to advise him 
freely, and he respects it ; but he will break out again 
on the very first occasion, so that he is incapable of 
correcting himself. To complete our misfortune, we 
have no channel through which we can correct the ir- 
ritating representations he may make." 

Genet insisted that French cruisers should have 
the right to bring their prizes into American ports, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 181 

under the treaty of 1778. He also asserted that 
French citizens possessed the right to arm and equip 
their ships of war in American ports. These posi- 
tions Mr. Jefferson denied, and he held that the 
assertion of the right of sovereignty by a neutral 
nation in its own ports became a duty, whenpver it 
was violated to the injury of a belligerent. T!ie sale 
of vessels taken by French cruisers was stopped at 
Philadelphia by the government. Genet immedi- 
ately and insolently demanded restitution, damages 
and interest. He also demanded the payment of the 
debt due by the United States to France, amounting 
to two million three hundred thousand dollars. Genet 
then proceeded to speculate privately on his own ac- 
count. He bought, equipped and commissioned a 
prize, called the Little Democrat, and prepared to dis- 
patch her on a cruise. The governor of Pennsyl- 
vania, Mr. Mifflin, requested Genet to delay the de- 
parture of his vessel. He refused. The Little Dem- 
ocrat, on the 11th of July fell down the Delaware to 
Chester, on her outward voyage. The cabinet was 
convened. They resolved to detain all vessels of any 
of the belligerents which had been armed in the 
United States ( together with their prizes, until the 
questions thereon arising could be definitely settled. 
But in defiance of this order the Little Democrat put 
to sea, and cruised along the American coasts. The 



te 



182 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

government tlien determined to demand the recall of 
Genet, as French minister, as the only expedient 
whereby the offended dignity of the United States 
could be satisfied without involving both countries in 
the horrors and calamities of a war. With unex- 
pected magnanimity the French Directory recalled 
Genet^ censured his conduct, and resolved to send four 
commissioners to the United States, to send Genet 
home a prisoner, and to augment the good feeling and 
unity which existed between the two nations. The 
sudden overthrow of the government at home de- 
feated the execution of this purpose. Genet was de- 
prived of his diplomatic powers, but remained per- 
manently in the United States. Mr. Jefferson de- 
scribes in the following sarcastic and scarcely excus- 
able language, the deliberations of his associates in 
the cabinet, in reference to the movements of Genet 
We extract from a letter to Mr. Madison, dated 
August 11, 1793. 

" I believe it will be true wisdom in the republi- 
can party to approve unequivocally of a state of 
neutrality; to avoid little cavils about who should 
declare it; to abandon Genet entirely, with expres- 
sions of strong friendship and adherence to his na- 
tion, and confidence that he has acted against their 
sense. In this way we shall keep the people on our 
side, by keeping ourselves in the right. They made 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 183 

the establishment of the democratic society here the 
ground for sounding the alarm that this society, 
(which they considered as the antifederal and discon- 
tented faction,) was put into motion by M. Genet, 
and would by their corresponding societies, in all the 
States, draw the mass of the people by dint of mis- 
information into their vortex, and overset the govern- 
ment. The President was strongly impressed by 
this picture, drawn by Hamilton, in three speeches of 
three-quarters of an hour's length each. I opposed it 
totally ; told the President plainly, in their presence, 
that the intention was to dismount him from being 
the head of the nation, and make him the head of a 
party ; that this would be the effect of making him, in 
an appeal to the people, declare war against the re- 
publican party. Randolph, according to his half- 
way system between wrong and right, urged the put- 
ting off the appeal. The President came into his 
idea, or rather concluded that the question on it 
might be put off indefinitely, to be governed by 
events. If the demonstrations of popular adherence 
to him become as general and as warm as I believe 
they will, I think he will never again bring on the 
question ; if there is an appearance of their support- 
ing Genet, he will probably make the appeal. Knox 
is the poorest creature I ever saw, having no color of 
his own, and reflecting that nearest to him. When 



184 I-IFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

he is with me he is a whig, when with Hamilton he is 
a tory, when he is with the President he is what he 

thinks will please him The President always 

acquiesces in the majority I 

" You ask the sense of France with regard to the 
defensive quality of the guarantee. I know it no 
otherwise than from Genet. His doctrine is, that 
without waiting to be called on — without waiting 
'till the islands were attacked, the moment France 
was engaged in a war, it was our duty to fly to arms 
as a nation, and the duty of every one to do it as an 
individual." 



CHAPTEK XL 

Mr. Jefferson's Retirement from the Cabinet of Washington — 
His Motives for so doing — His Letters to Mr. Madison — 
His Last Report to Congress — His Letter of Resignation — 
Causes of Previous Dissensions in the Cabinet — Mr. Jeffer- 
son's Charges Against Mr. Hamilton — Evidence of their 
Falsehood —The National Gazette— Freneau— Mr. Jeffer- 
son Refuses to Suppress the National Gazette— His Re- 
turn to Monticello — His Celebrated Letter to Mazzei — 
Jefferson's Apology to Washington for its Strictures on 
him. 

On the 31st of December, 1793, Mr. Jefferson 

executed his long-threatened purpose of retiring from 

the office of Secretary of State. His motives for so 

doing have been frequently discussed, commended 

and censured. They seem in reality to have been of 

a complex nature, and quite varied and dissimilar in 

their character. It is doubtless true that he was fond 

of rural and agricultural life ; that he desired greater 

leisure to cultivate his taste for literature and science; 

that he delighted in the society of his daughters and 

grand-children ; and that he had already served the 

public through many years of laborious activity. 

But it seems to be also true, that the preponderating 

cause of his withdrawal at this time from the cares 
185 



186 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of office was the fact that Hamilton had secured the 
ascendency over Washington and his cabinet; thai 
Jefferson's popularity at this period was on the wane ; 
and that the prospects of the administration, of which 
he was an important member, were then gloomy and 
forbidding. At this period party dissensions began 
to rage with greater fury ; and a revolution in popu- 
lar sentiment threatened soon to leave the administra- 
tion of Washington in a helpless minority. Jeffer- 
son being attached to the ultra doctrines of liberty 
was associated in the cabinet with men whose love of 
freedom was tempered by a regard for authority, a 
reverence for the past, and esteem for order and sub- 
ordination. Among such men Mr. Jefferson was not 
at home; and though his great talents and reflective 
sagacity gave him importance and respectability, they 
could not secure him a predominating influence. He 
seized the most appropriate opportunity to escape 
from the falling wreck with safety, security, and 
honor. Jefferson thought he foresaw that the popu- 
larity of Washington was about to be destroyed by 
an outburst of popular indignation ; and he did not 
wish to incur any portion of that obloquy which the 
baseness and ingratitude of a thankless nation were 
about to inflict, as he feared, upon the author of their 
liberties. Jefferson also thought that the tide of 
democratic sentiment was rising rapidly throughout 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 187 

the nation ; and the result eventually proved the saga- 
city of his calculations. How far he co-operated, 
after his retirement, in the attainment of this result, 
it is difficult to say ; but it is unquestionable that he 
still cherished a dislike to Washington, a hatred of 
Hamilton, and a detestation of their party, as will 
appear from the following letters to Mr. Madison, 
dated April 3d, and December 28th, 1794: 

" Dear Sir : Our post having ceased to ride ever 
since the inoculation began in Kichmond till now, I 
received, three days ago, and all together, your 
friendly favors of March 2, 9, 12, 14, and Colonel 
Monroe's of March 3 and 16. I have been pl^rticur 
larly gratified by the receipt of the papers containing 
yours and Smith's discussion of your regulating prop- 
ositions. These debates had not been seen here but 
in a very short and mutilated form. I am at no 
loss to ascribe Smith's speech to its true father. 
Every title of it is Hamilton's except the introduc- 
tion. There is scarcely any thing there which I have 
not heard from him in our various private, though 
official discussions. The very turn of the arguments 
is the same and others will see as well as myself, that 
the style is Hamilton's. The sophistry is too fine, too 
ingenious, even to have been comprehended by Smith, 
much less devised by him. His reply shows that he 



188 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

did not understand his first speech ; as its general in- 
feriority proves its legitimacv, as evidently as it does 
the bastardy of the original. You know we had un- 
derstood that Hamilton had prepared a counter re- 
port, and that some of his humble servants in the 
Senate were to move a reference to him in order to 
produce it. But I suppose they thought it would 
have a better effect if fired off in the House of Rep- 
resentatives. I find the report, however, so fully 
justified, that the anxieties with which I left it are 
perfectly quieted. In this quarter all espouse your 
propositions with ardor, and without a dissenting 
voice. 

" Tte rumor of a declaration of war has given an 
opportunity of seeing that the people here, though 
attentive to the loss of value of their produce in such 
an event, yet find in it a gratification of some other 
passions, and particularly of their ancient hatred to 
Great Britain. Still I hope it will not come to that ; 
but that the proposition will be carried, and justice 
be done ourselves in a peaceable way. As to the 
guarantee of the French Islands, whatever doubts 
may be entertained of the moment at which we ought 
to interpose, yet I have no doubt that we ought to in- 
terpose at a proper time, and declare both to 
England and France that these islands are to rest 
with France, and that we will make a common cause 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 189 

with the latter for that object. As to the naval arma- 
ment, the land armament, and the marine fortifica- 
tions, which are in question with you, I have no 
doubt they will all be carried. ISTot that the mono- 
crats * and papermen in Congress want war ; but they 
want armies and debts ; and though we may hope that 
the sound part of Congress is now so augmented as to 
insure a majority in cases of general interest merely, 
yet I have always observed that in questions of ex- 
pense, where members may hope either for offices or 
jobs for themselves or their friends, some few will 
be debauched, and that is sufficient to turn the de- 
cision where a majority is at most but small. I 
have never seen a Philadelphia paper since I i<ift it, 
till those you enclosed me ; and I feel myself so thor- 
oughly weaned from the interest I took in the pro- 
ceedings there while there, that I have never had a 
wish to see one, and believe that I never shall take 
another newspaper of any sort. I find my mind to- 
tally absorbed in my rural occupations. 

" Accept sincere assurances of affection, &c." 

" Monticello, Dec. 28, 1794. 
"Dear Sir: I have kept Mr. Jay's letter a post 
or two, with an intention of considering attentively 
the observations it contains ; but I have really so lit- 

* See above, page 167, note, 



190 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

tie stomach for any thing of that kind that I have not 
resolution enough even to endeavor to understand 
the observations. I therefore return the letter, not 
to delay your answer to it, and beg you in answering 
for yourself, to assure him of my respects and thank- 
ful acceptance of Chalmers' Treatise, which I do not 
possess, and if you possess yourself of the scope cf 
his reasoning, make any answer to it you please for 
me. If it had been on the rotation of my crops, I 
would have answered myself, lengthily perhaps, but 
certainly con gusto [with relish]. 

^' The denunciation of the democratic societies is 
one of the extraordinary acts of boldness of which we 
have -seen so many from the faction of monocrats. 
It is wonderful indeed, that the President should 
have permitted himself to be the organ of such an at- 
tack on the freedom of discussion, the freedom of 
writing, printing and publishing. It must be a mat- 
ter of rare curiosity to get at the modifications of 
these rights proposed hy them, and to see what line 
their ingenuity would draw between democratical 
societies, whose avowed object is the nourishment of 
the republican principles of our Constitution and the 
Society of the Cincinnatti, a self-created one, carving 
out for itself hereditary distinctions, lowering over 
our Constitution eternally, meeting together in all 
parts of the Union periodically, with closed doors, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 191 

accumulating a capital in their separate treasury, cor- 
responding secretly and regularly, and of which so- 
ciety the very persons denouncing the democrats are 
themselves the fathers, founders, and high officers. 
Their sight must be perfectly dazzled by the glitter- 
ing of crowns and coronets, not to see the extrava- 
gance of the proposition to suppress the friends of 
general freedom ; while those who wioh to confine th Jt 
freedom to the few, are permitted to go on in their 
principles and practices. I here put out of sight the 
persons whose misbehavior has been taken advantage 
of to slander the friends of popular rights ; and I am 
happy to observe that, as far as the circle of ipy ob- 
servation and information extends, every body has 
lost sight of them, and views the abstract attempt on 
their natural and constitutional rights in all its 
nakedness. I have never heard of a single expression 
or opinion which did not condemn it as an inexcus- 
able aggression. And with respect to the transac- 
tions against the excise law, it appears to me that you 
are all swept away in the torrent of governmental 
opinions, or that we do not know what these transac- 
tions have been. We know of none which, according 
to the definitions of the law, have been any thing 
more than riotous. There was indeed a meeting to 
consult about a separation. But to consult on a 
question does not amount to a determination of that 



192 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

question in the affirmative, still less to the acting on 
such a determination; but we shall see, I suppose, 
what the court lawyers and courtly judges, and 
would-be ambassadors will make of it. The excise 
law is an infernal one. The first error was to admit 
it by the Constitution ; the second to act on that ad- 
mission ; the third and last will be to make it the in- 
strument of dismembering the Union and setting us 
all afloat to choose what part of it we will adhere to. 
The information of our militia, returned from the 
westward, is uniform, that though the people there 
let them pass quietly, they were objects of their 
laughter, not of their fear; that one thousand men 
could have cut off their whole force in a thousand 
places of the Allegheny ; that their detestation of the 
excise law is universal, and has now associated to it 
a detestation of the government ; and that separa- 
tion which perhaps was a very distant and proble- 
matical event is now near and certain, and deter- 
mined in the mind of every man. I expected to have 
seen some justification of arming one part of the so- 
ciety against another ; of declaring a civil war the mo- 
ment before the meeting of that body which has the 
sole right of declaring war; of being so patient of 
the kicks and scoffs of our enemies, and rising at a 
feather against our friends ; of adding a million to the 
public debt, and deriding us with recommendations 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 193 

to pay it if we can, fcc, &c. But the part of the 
speech which was to be taken as a justification of the 
armament, reminded me of parson Saunders' dem- 
onstration why minus into minus makes plus. After 
a parcel of shreds of stuff from ^sop's Fables and 
Tom Thumb, he jumps all at once into his ergo, 
minus multiplied into minus makes plus. Just so 
the fifteen thousand men enter after the fables in the 
speech. 

^' However, the time is coming when we shall fetch 
up the leeway of our vessel. The changes in your 
house I see are going on for the better, and even the 
Augean herd over your heads are slowly purging off 
their impurities. Hold on then, my dear friend, that 
we may not shipwreck in the meanwhile. I do not see 
in the minds of those with whom I converse, a greater 
affliction than the fear of your retirement ; but this 
must not be, unless to a more splendid and more 
efficacious post. There I should rejoice to see you; 
I hope I may say I shall rejoice to see you. I have 
long had much in my mind to say to you on that sub- 
ject ; but double delicacies have kept me silent. I 
ought perhaps to say, while I would not give up my 
own retirement for the empire of the universe, how I 
can justify wishing one whose happiness I have so 
much at heart as yours, to take the front of the battle 
which is fighting for my security. This would be 
13 



194 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

easy enough to be done, but not at the heel of a 
lengthy epistle. Adieu." 

The immediate occasion of the resignation of Mr. 
Jefferson was the fate which befel his last official re- 
port to Congress on the commerce and navigation of 
the United States in their relations to foreign govern- 
ments, with suggestions upon the measures which it 
would be expedient to adopt to improve and extend 
the same. This report asserts the doctrine of Free 
Trade, and yet entertains the contingencies of a Pro- 
tective Tariff. 

He begins by considering the value of the articles 
of our export to the different countries with whom we 
exchange commodities; and then proceeds to investi- 
gate the restrictions which other nations have im- 
posed upon our trade ; whence he branches out into an 
appeal to Congress, to devise and adopt the most 
eligible modes for their modification, counteraction, 
or removal. He then suggests as two of the most 
eligible methods: firsts IN^egotiations for commercial 
treaties on the basis of reciprocity ; and second, Leg- 
islative enactments imposing counteracting restric- 
tions upon the trade of those nations which will not 
treat on the first-named condition. Commercial reg- 
ulations he deemed preferable, because he contended 
that an unshackled and free trade was the most profit- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 195 

able, reasonable and just ; and that the United States 
ought to hold in special favor any nation -Svhich 
would, by commencing the system, set a good example 
for others to follow ; and in the same spirit to resist 
with rigorous counteracting duties, the commerce 
and navigation of those countries that pertinaciously 
adhered to the system of prohibitions, high duties, or 
vexatious exactions. An obvious train of powerful 
argument is adduced to sustain this just position, and 
recommend to national patronage the navigation in- 
terest of the country ; urging with a fervor commen- 
surate to the great importance of the question, the 
adoption of the system of national reciprocity — op- 
posing tariff to tariff — duty against duty ; but at all 
times giving a decided preference to free and unre- 
strained trade, universally guaranteed from all 
shackles by commercial treaties and arrangements. 

In support of this report Mr. Madison introduced a 
series of resolutions in the House, which called forth 
a long and animated debate. The hostility of the 
majority of the Eepresentatives against the report 
was so intense and so evident, that the resolutions 
were never put to the vote ; and thus the matter ended 
in a virtual defeat of the Secretary of State. This 
report was made on the 16th of December; and imme- 
diately after the termination of the debate, on the 
31st of the same month, Mr. Jefferson sent in his res- 



196 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ignatixin. His intention was expressed to Washing- 
ton in'jie following language : 

" Philadelphia, December 31, 1793. 

'' Sir: Having had the honor of communicating 
to you, in my letter of the last of July, my purpose 
of retiring from the office of Secretary of State, at 
the end of the month of September, you w^ere pleased, 
for particular reasons, to wish its postponement to 
the close of the year. That term being now arrived, 
and my propensity to retirement becoming daily more 
and more irresistible, I now take the liberty of re- 
signing the office into your hands. Be pleased to ac- 
cept m}^ sincere thanks for all the indulgences which 
you have been so good as to exercise toward me in the 
discharge of its duties. Conscious that my need of 
them has been great, I have still ever found them 
greater, without any other claim on my part than a 
•firm support of what has appeared to be right and a 
thorough disdain of all means which were not as open 
and honoTable as their object was pure. I carry into 
my retirem.ent a lively sense of your goodness, and 
shall continue gratefully to remember it. 

" With my serious prayers for your life, health, 
and tranquillity, I pray you accept the homage of the 
great and constant respect and attachment with which 
I have the honor to be, &c." 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 197 

But it is doubtless true that the many and fitter 
dissensions which had occurred in the Cabinet be- 
tween Jefferson and Hamilton, had at length ren- 
dered it impossible for them to act together to any 
extent. In vain had Washington endeavored to har- 
monize their disputes. How earnestly he desired 
this result may be inferred from the following extract 
from the letter which he addressed to each member of 
his Cabinet : 

" My earnest wish and my fondest hope, therefore, 
is, that instead of wounding suspicions and irritating 
charges, there may be liberal allowances, mutual for- 
bearances, and temporising yielding on all sides. 
Under the exercise of these, matters will go on 
smoothly, and, if possible, more prosperously. With- 
out them every thing must rub, the wheels of gov- 
ernment will clog, our enemies will triumph, and by 
throwing their weight into the disaffected scale, may 
accomplish the ruin of the goodly fabric we have been 
erecting. 

" I do not mean to apply this advice, or these ob- 
servations, to any particular person or character. I 
have given them in the same general terms to other 
officers of the government, because the disagreements 
which have arisen from difference of opinions, and 
the attacks which have been made upon almost all 
the measures of government, and most of its execu- 



198 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

tive ^officers, have foi- a long time past filled me with 
paiiiJ:il sensations, and cannot fail, I think, of pro- 
ducing unhappy consequences at home and abroad." 
That Mr. Jefferson was to blame for a large share 
of the difficulties and disputes which embarrassed 
the Qabinet, is unquestionable. His personal hatred 
of Mr. Hamilton inflamed his feelings and beclouded 
his judgment. In this state of mind he often op- 
posed good measures, simply because they were de- 
fended and approved by his rival. He also aggra- 
vated the existing evils by making charges against 
Hamilton which were dictated by personal spite; 
which were unfounded in truth ; and which compelled 
his foe to retort, and to defend himself with acri- 
mony. As an instance of this, we may cite the ac- 
cusation made by Mr. Jefferson, that Mr. Hamilton 
had corrupted members of the legislature and had 
rewarded his friends by dealing out the financial se- 
crets of the Treasur3^ This charge had been first 
made by Mr. Jefferson in a letter to Washington, 
dated May 23d, 1792.* A complaint of such sever- 
ity and importance as this, should have been sus- 

* See Writings of G. Washington, by Sparks : Vol. x. Ap- 
pendix, p. 504. Jefferson repeats tlie charge in another letter 
to Washington, dated Sept. 9, 1792. See Writings of Wash- 
ington: Vol. X. Appendix, p. 517. The letter of May 23d, 
1792, with a very slight change of form, was the letter Wash- 
ington addressed to Hamilton, July 29th, 1702. See Wash- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 199 

tained by something like proof ; and if it had been 
true, the evidence in support of it would have' been 
accessible. If Jefferson had possessed no proof, he 
should not have made the charge; and the fact that 
he adduced no evidence and cited no particulars, 
evinces clearly that he could not do so. Had he pos- 
sessed the ability he certainly would not have wanted 
the inclination. 

But, unfortunately for the sincerity and veracity 
of Mr. Jefferson, while there is a total absence of 
proof in support of his assertion, there is direct evi- 
dence in existence of its falsity. 

Among the most intimate and esteemed friends of 
Mr. Hamilton was Colonel Lee, well known for his 
many brilliant exploits during the Revolution. He 
had been closely associated with Mr. Hamilton 
at the head-quarters of the army, during the period 
when the latter was Washington's private secretary. 
He was a person whom Hamilton would have gladly 
served on any possible occasion, by any means in his 
power. Immediately before Hamilton made his re- 
port to Congress in reference to the public credit, in 
December, 1789, Colonel Lee addressed certain 
queries to Mr. Hamilton in reference to the policy 

ington's Writings : Vol. x. p. 249. Compare Hamilton's an- 
swer to the queries contained in that letter, — Hamilton's 
Works: Vol. iv. pp. 247, 248. 



200 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

and measures whicli he intended to recommend, for 
the purpose of using the information thus obtained 
in private financial operations. Here was an in- 
stance in which Mr. Hamilton could have obliged one 
of his best friends, and could have also used the se- 
crets of the Treasury in strengthening his supporters 
in Congress, had he desired to do so. His answer to 
Col. Lee, dated December 1st, 1789, immediately be- 
fore his report was made to Congress, is as follows : 

" My Dear Friend : I received your letter of the 
16th inst. I am sure you are sincere when you say 
that you would not subject me to an impropriety ; nor 
do I know there would be any in answering your 
queries. But you remember the saying with regard 
to Caesar's wife. I think the spirit of it applicable 
to every man concerned in the administration of the 
finances of a country ; with respect to the conduct of 
such men, suspicion is ever eagle-eyed, and the most 
innocent things may be misrepresented. Be assured 
of the affectionate friendship of yours, &c." * 

IN'ow although the evidence which proves that Mr. 
Hamilton refused to reveal treasury secrets to Col. 
Lee, does not absolutely show that he did not reveal 
them to others, it proves, in the absence of all testi- 

* See Works of Hamilton, by bis Son : Vol. v., p. 446. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 201 

mony to the contrary, that the same spirit would ac- 
tuate him consistently in all his official transactions; 
and the inference is legitimate and just, that he never 
did thus violate the dictates of honor and duty. If 
this be true, then the conclusion is unavoidable, that 
Mr. Jefferson made unfounded, not to say false 
charges against his rival ; charges which he had no 
reason whatever to believe to be true; and conse- 
quently that those dissensions in the Cabinet, which 
resulted in part from the propagation of these slan- 
ders, were to some extent attributable to the conduct 
of Mr. Jefferson. This censure becomes more just 
when it is remembered that this ungrounded and un- 
proven accusation is frequently repeated by him 
against Hamilton, both in his letters and in his Ana. 
That his longer connection with the Cabinet of Wash- 
ington was impossible under such circumstances, and 
in the midst of such jealousies and recriminations, 
is not singular. 

Even the hostile feelings which had gradually 
grown up between Mr. Jefferson and the President 
were such as to render their further connection un- 
pleasant. The Natio7ml Gazette had been estab- 
lished by Mr. Jefferson ; and its leading articles con- 
tinually and bitterly attacked Washington, Hamilton, 
and their measures. In many of these articles the 
style of Jefferson was clearly detected; and their 



202 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

abuse of the President was most execrable. A liter- 
ary adventurer named Freneau * was used by him 
as his chief tool in the conduct of this paper. Mr. 
Jefferson was fully aware of the chagrin inflicted by 
the attacks of that man upon Washington. In his 
Ana he thus speaks of the complaints made by Wash- 
ington to him in person, in a private interview : 

" He adverted to a piece in Freneau's paper of yes- 
terday; he said he despised all their attacks on him 
personally, but that there never had been an act of 
the government, not meaning in the executive line 
only, but in any line, which that paper had not 
abused. He had also marked the word republic thus 
(V) where it was applied to the French republic. 
He was evidently sore and warm, and I took his in- 
tention to be that I should interpose in some way 
with Freneau, perhaps withdraw his appointment of 
translating clerk to my office. But I will not do it. 
His 'paper has saved our Constitution, which was gal- 
loping fast into monarchy, and has been checked by 
no one means so powerfully as that paper. It is well 
and universally known, that it has been that paper 
which has checked the career of the monocrats; and 
the President, not sensible of the designs of the 

* Pliilip Freneau (1752-1839) was a poet and satirist who, 
during the Revohition. wrote many burlesque poem?; against 
the Tories. He was afterwards translating clerk for Jefferson 
and in his behalf wrote virulent articles against Washington. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 203 

party, has not, with his usual good sense and sang 
froid, looked on the efforts and effects of this free 
press, and seen that though some bad things have 
passed through it to the public, yet the good have 
preponderated immensely." 

After Mr. Jefferson's return to Monticello, it is 
certain that his residence became for several years 
the head-quarters of those who were opposed to the 
administration of Washington, and that all the dem- 
ocratic measures which were proposed in Congress 
w^ere undertaken after his advice and approval had 
been obtained. He had a share in directing the at- 
tacks of the opposition journals, and he made with 
his own hand draughts of the bills, resolutions and re- 
ports which were offered to Congress by his confed- 
erates. His most intimate friends and associates at 
this period were Messrs. Madison, Monroe and Giles. 
It was at this period of his retirement that he wrote 
his famous letter to Mr. Mazzei, his Italian friend, 
in which he is charged with having traduced Wash- 
ington. This letter w^as not intended for the public 
eye ; but unfortunately it was translated into Italian 
in Florence, thence into French, and afterward pub- 
lished in the Moniteur. It was subsequently re- 
translated into English, and published both in Eng- 
land and the United States. The portion of this let- 
ter which refers to politics is as follows : 



204 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

'' The aspect of our politics has wonderfully 
chai^ged since jou left us April 24, 1796. In place 
of that noble love of liberty and republican govern- 
ment which carried us triumphantly through the war, 
an Anglican monarchical and aristocratical party has 
sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw over us 
the substance, as they have already done the forms, of 
the British government. The main body of our cit- 
izens, however, remain true to their republican prin- 
ciples; the whole landed interest is republican, and 
so is a great mass of talents. Against us are the 
executive, the judiciary, two out of three branches of 
the legislature, all the officers of the government, all 
who want to be officers, all timid men who prefer the 
calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty; 
British merchants and Americans trading on British 
capitals, speculators and holders in the banks and 
public funds, a contrivance invented for the purposes 
of corruption, and for assimilating us in all things to 
the rotten as well as the sound parts of the British 
model. It would give you a fever were I to name to 
you the apostates who have gone over to these her- 
esies, men who were Samsons in the field and Solo- 
mons in the council, but who have had their heads 
shorn by the harlot England. In short, we are likely 
to preserve the liberty we have obtained only by un- 
remitting labors and perils. But we shall preserve 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 205 

it; and our mass of weight and wealth on the good 
side is so great, as to leave no danger that force will 
ever be attempted against ns. We have only to 
awake and snap the liliputian cords with which they 
have been entangling us during the first sleep which 
succeeded our labors. I begin to feel the effects of 
age. My health has suddenly broken down, with 
symptoms which give me to believe I shall not have 
much to encounter of the tedium vitw. While it re- 
mains, however, my heart will be warm in its friend- 
ships, and among these, will always foster the af- 
fections, with which I am, dear sir, your friend and 
servant, &c." 

This letter has long been the theme of dispute 
between the friends and enemies of Mr. Jefferson. 
The former deny that Washington was referred to 
in it by the author, in any way. The latter assert 
the contrary. Timothy Pickering states, on the au- 
thority of Dr. Stuart, that Washington, after the ter- 
mination of his second and last administration, called 
its author personally to account for the injury thus 
done him ; and that Mr. Jefferson appeased the just 
resentment of Washington by some great act of apol- 
ogy and humiliation, the precise nature and degree of 
which never became known. The full and accurate 
truth in reference to this affair cannot now be recov- 
ered ; for the lapse of time, and the careful removal 



206 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of many sources of information, have effectually cov- 
ered it forever with the mantle of oblivion. 

Mr. Jefferson appears in a more pleasing and am- 
iable light when viewed upon his estate, engaged in 
the harmless and agreeable occupation of agriculture. 
The celebrated French traveler, the Duke de Lian- 
court, thus describes the sage and politician of Mon- 
ticello at this period : " His conversation is of the 
most agreeable kind, and he possesses a stock of in- 
formation not inferior to that of any other man. In 
Europe he would hold a distinguished rank among 
men of letters, and as such he has already appeared 
there. At present he is employed with activity and 
perseverance in the management of his farms and 
buildings, and he orders, directs and pursues, in the 
minutest detail, every branch of business relating to 
them. The author of this sketch found him in the 
midst of harvest, from which the scorching heat of 
the sun does not prevent his attendance. His negroes 
are nourished, clothed, and treated as well as his 
white servants could be. As he cannot expect any 
assistance from the two small neighboring towns, 
every article is made on his farm; his negroes are 
cabinet-makers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, &c. 
The children he employs in a nail manufactory, 
which yields already a considerable profit. The 
young and old negresses spin for the clothing of the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 207 

rest. He animates them by rewards and distinc- 
tions; in fine, his superior mind directs the manage- 
ment of his domestic concerns with the same abilities, 
activity and regularity, which he evinced in the con- 
duct of public affairs, and which he is calculated to 
display in every situation in life." 



CHAPTER XII. 

Mr. Jefferson Elected Vice-President— His Relations to the 
President — The New Cabinet — Disputes with tlie French 
Government — American Envoys sent to Paris — Their Re- 
ception There — Mr. Jefferson's Political Creed — Indigna- 
tion in the United States Against France— Napoleon Bona- 
parte Succeeds to the French Directory, and makes a 
Treaty with the United States — Termination of Mr. 
Adams' Administration — The Approaching Election — Dr. 
Logan's Private Mission to France. 

Mr. Jeffersox's retirement from public office con- 
tinued during the space of three years. In October, 

1796, John Adams was elected President, and Mr. 
Jefferson Vice-President of the United States. The 
former received seventy-one votes, the latter sixty- 
eight. In spite of his prodigious devotion to the cul- 
tivation of Lucerne and potatoes, Mr. Jefferson at 
once accepted the proffered dignity. In February, 

1797, he prepared to leave Monticello for Philadel- 
phia, where the Federal Government was then lo- 
cated. Previous to this period he had not been on 
very friendly terms with the President elect ; but on 
December 28th, he addressed him a conciliatory let- 
ter, and immediately on his arrival at Philadelphia 
paid his respects to Mr. Adams in person. The next 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 209 

day Mr. Adams returned the visit. Their former 
friendly feelings were again revived, a circumstance 
which augured favorably for the harmony of the en- 
suing administration. The Cabinet of Mr. Adams 
consisted of Timothy Pickering as Secretary of State, 
Mr. Wolcott as Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Mc- 
Henry as Secretary of War, and Mr. Lee as Attor- 
ney-General. The relative strength of parties in the 
legislature stood fifty-two in favor of the administra- 
tion and forty-eight against it. The President and 
Cabinet were Federal, the Vice-President alone was 
Democratic. This antagonism was not of much con- 
sequence, inasmuch as Mr. Jefferson's duties con- 
sisted merely in presiding over the deliberations of 
the Senate. He was not admitted to the consulta- 
tions of the Cabinet. In his letters to James Sulli- 
van, Eldredge Gerry, Mr. Madison, Colonel Burr 
and General Gates, of the year 1797, he expresses bis 
great disappointment that such an invitation had not 
been extended to him. 

The letter addressed by Mr. Jefferson to the new 
President, already referred to, is as follows : 

" Monticello, Dec. 28, 1796. 
"Dear Sir: The public and the public papers, 
have been much occupied lately in. placing us in a 
point of opposition to each other. I confidently trust 



210 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

we have felt less of it ourselves. In the retired can- 
ton where I live, we know little of what is passing. 
Our last information from Philadelphia is of the 
16th inst. At that date the issue of the late elec- 
tion seems not to have been known as a matter of 
fact. With me, however, *its issue was never 
doubted. I knew the impossibility of your losing a 
single vote north of the Delaware; and even if you 
should lose that of Pennsylvania in the mass, you 
would get enough south of it to make your election 
sure. I never, for a single moment, expected any 
other issue, and though I shall not be believed, yet it 
is not the less true, that I never wished aruj other. 
My neighbors, as my compurgators, could aver this 
fact, as seeing my occupations and my attachment to 
them. It is possible, indeed, that even you may be 
cheated of your succession hy a triclc worthy the sub- 
tlety of your arch friend of New YorJc, who has been 
able to make of your real friends tools for defeating 
their and your just wishes. Probably, however, he will 
be disappointed as to you ; and my inclinations put 
me out of his reach. I leave to others the sublime de- 
lights of riding in the storm, better pleased with a 
sound sleep and a warmer berth below it, encircled 
with the society of my neighbors, friends, and fellow- 
laborers of the earth, rather than with spies and 
sveophants. Still, I shall value highly the share I 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 211 

may have had in the late vote, as a measure of the 
• share I hold in the esteem of my fellow-citizens. In 
this point of view, a few votes less are but little sen- 
sible, while a few more would have been in their ef- 
fect very sensible and oppressive to me. I have no 
ambition to govern men. It is a painful and thank- 
less office. And never since the day you signed the 
treaty of Paris, has our horizon been so overcast. I 
devoutly wish you may be able to shun for us this 
war, which will destroy our agriculture, commerce 
and credit. If you do, the glory will be all your 
own. And that your administration may be filled 
with glory and happiness to yourself, and advantage 
to us, is the sincere prayer of one, who, though in the 
course of our voyage, various little incidents have 
happened or been contrived, to separate us, yet re- 
tains for you the solid esteem of the times when we 
were working for our independence, and sentiments 
of sincere respect and attachment." 

!N'o one can carefully peruse this singular docu- 
ment without perceiving that its author therein utters 
sentiments unworthy of his talents and his patriot- 
ism. He is not consistent or true to his own party 
and professions ; for how could he say that he " never 
ivished for any oilier issue " than the election of Mr. 
Adams, whom he knew to be an ultra-federalist, and 



212 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

yet claim the least pretense to consistency? The 
truth IS, 'My. Jefferson was extremely desirous of con-' 
ciliating the President elect, in order that he might 
bo invited to share the deliberations of the Cabinet; 
and to attain that end, he was willing to make con- 
cessions which true moral courage would have con- 
demned and disdained. 

Congress had been convened under the new ad- 
ministration for the 15th of May. The chief ques- 
tions which agitated the country during the ensuing 
session were the spoliations of France on American 
commerce, the insulting treatment of the American 
envoys at Paris, and the anticipations of a furious 
conflict with that nation. Mr. Jefferson was op- 
posed to a war with the French government and peo- 
ple. Indeed it must be said in justice to him, that 
though he hated England with an unappeasable ha- 
tred, yet he was opposed to any rupture even with 
that country. Mr. Pinkney, the minister sent by 
Mr. Adams to Paris as successor to Mr. Monroe, 
was refused an audience by the Directory, then act- 
ing under the influence of the artful and rapacious 
Talleyrand. Mr. Adams' Cabinet was divided upon 
the policy which it became the United States to adopt 
under these circumstances. A portion of them, in- 
cluding Mr. Pickering, thought that national self-re- 
spect forbade the appointment of any other emissary 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 213 

to France until an apology had been made. Another 
portion thought that, rather than venture on the haz- 
ards which would ensue upon a final rupture with 
that country, the President should once more try the 
effect of proffered negotiation. With these advisers 
Mr. Adams acquiesced ; and three envoys were sent to 
France. These were General Pinckney, of South 
Carolina ; Mr. Marshall, of Virginia ; and Mr. Gerry, 
of Massachusetts. Their appointment was confirmed 
by the Senate. They entered on their mission, and 
the nation awaited the result with intense interest. 

During this interval of suspense Mr. Jefferson 
was not idle. Though a member of, he was heartily 
opposed to, the existing administration. He en- 
deavored to break it down both by his personal acts 
and his correspondence; and as the great name of 
Washington was still the chief support of the part}^ 
in power, he did not scruple to assail even him. On 
the 17th of June he addressed a letter to Aaron 
Burr, in which the following language occurs : 

^^ I had always hoped that the popularity of the 
late President being once withdraAvn from active 
effect, the natural feelings of the people toward lib- 
erty would restore the equilibrium between the execu- 
tive and legislative departments, which had been de- 
stroyed by the superior weight and effect of that pop- 
ularity ; and that their natural feelings of moral obli- 



214: LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

gation would discountenance the ungrateful predilec- 
tion of the executive in favor of Great Britain. But 
unfortunately, the preceding measures had already 
alienated the nation, who were the object of them, 
had excited reaction from them, and this reaction has, 
on the minds of our citizens, an effect which supplies 
that of the Washington popularity. 

" But will that region ever awake to the true state 
of things ? Can the Middle, Southern, and Western 
States hold on till they awake? These are painful 
and doubtful questions; and if, in assuring me of 
3^our health, you can give me a comfortable solution 
of them, it will relieve a mind devoted to the preser- 
vation of our republican government in the true form 
and spirit in which it was established, but almost op- 
pressed with apprehensions that fraud will at length 
effect what force could not, and that what with cur- 
rents and counter-currents, we shall, in the end, be 
driven back to the land from which we launched 
tAventy ^^ears ago." 

In the same spirit of censure and apprehension he 
wrote to Governor Rutledge, on the 24th of June, as 
follows : 

" This is, indeed, a most humiliating state of 
things; but it commenced in 1793. Causes have 
been adding to causes, and effects accumulating on 
effects, from that time to this. We had in 1793 the 



■ LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 215 

most respectable character in tlie universe. What tlie 
neutral nations think of us now, I know not ; but we 
are low indeed with the belligerents. Their kicks and 
cuffs prove their contempt. If we weather the present 
storm, I hope we shall avail ourselves of the calm of 
peace to place our foreign connections under a new 
and different arrangement. We must make the in- 
terest of every nation stand surety for their justice; 
and their own loss to follow injury to us, as effect fol- 
lows its cause. As to every thing except commerce, 
we ought to divorce ourselves from them all. But 
this system would require time, temper, wisdom, and 
occasional sacrifice of interest ; and how far all these 
will be ours, our children may see, but we shall not 
The passions are too high at present to be cooled in 
our day. You and I have formerly seen warm de- 
bates and high political passions. But gentlemen of 
different politics would then speak to each other, and 
separate the business of the Senate from that of so- 
cietv. It is not so now. Men who have been inti- 
mate all their lives cross the street to avoid meeting, 
and turn their heads another way, lest they should be 
obliged to touch their hats. This may do for young 
men, with whom passion is enjoyment. But it is 
afilicting to peaceable minds. Tranquillity is the old 
man's milk. I go to enjoy it in a few days, and to ex- 
change the roar and tumult of bulls and bears for the 



216 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

prattle of my grandchildren, and senile rest. Be 
these ^ours, my dear friend, through long years, with 
every other blessing, and the attachment of friends as 
warm." 

In the beginning of this year, 1797, Mr. Jefferson 
was elected President of the American Philosophical 
Society, of which body, for twenty years, he had been 
a member. He was highly gratified by this distinc- 
tion ; for during his whole life, in the midst of polit- 
ical conflicts, and all the rude scenes of public life 
and ambition, he greatly appreciated the value of 
scientific pursuits, and of those institutions which 
promoted their success. 

It was at the same period that Mr. Jefferson ad- 
dressed a letter to Mr. Gerry, in which he carefully 
embodied his political creed. As this document con- 
tains the fullest exposition of his political views 
which is to be found among his writings, it possesses 
a much more than transient importance. We there- 
fore insert it here, as being an instrument of author- 
ity on the subject of which it treats. 

'' In confutation of these, and all future calum- 
nies," says Mr. J., " by way of anticipation, I shall 
make to you a profession of my political faith; in 
confidence that you will consider every future im- 
putation on me of a contrary complexion, as bearing 
on its front the mark of falsehood and calumny. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. ^17 

" I do then, with a sincere zeal, wish an inviolable 
preservation of our present Federal Constitution, ac- 
cording to the true sense in which it was adopted by 
the States, that in which it was advocated by its 
friends, and not that which its enemies apprehended, 
who therefore became its enemies ; and I am opposed 
to monarchising its features by the forms of its ad- 
ministration, with a view to conciliate a first transi- 
tion to a President and Senate for life, and from 
that to an hereditary tenure of these offices, and thus 
to worm out the elective principle. I am for pre- 
serving to the States the powers not yielded by them 
to the Union, and to the Legislature of the Union its 
constitutional share in the division of powers; and I 
am not for transferring all the powers of the States 
to the general government, and all those of that 
government to the Executive branch. I am for a 
government rigorously frugal and simple, applying 
all the possible savings of the public revenue to the 
discharge of the national debt ; and not for a multi- 
plication of officers and salaries, merely to make par- 
tisans, and for increasing, by every device, the public 
debt, on the principle of its being a public blessing. 
I am for relying for internal defense on our militia 
solely, till actual invasion, and for such a naval force 
only as may protect our coasts and harbors from such 
depredations as we have ex^Derienced ; and not for a 



218 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

standing army in time of peace, which may over-awe 
the public sentiment; nor for a navy, which by its 
own expenses and the eternal wars in which it will 
implicate us, will grind us with public burdens, and 
sink us under them. I am for free commerce with 
all nations; political connection with none; and lit- 
tle or no diplomatic establishment. And I am not 
for linking ourselves by new treaties with the quar- 
rels of Europe; entering that field of slaughter to 
preserve their balance, or joining in the confederacy 
of kings to war against the principles of liberty. I 
am for freedom of religion, and against all maneu- 
vres to bring about the legal ascendancy of one sect 
over another; for freedom of the press, and against 
all violations of the Constitution to silence by force, 
and not by reason, the complaints or criticisms, just 
or unjust, of our citizens, against the conduct of their 
agents. And I am for encouraging the progress of 
science in all its branches ; and not for raising a hue 
and cry against the sacred name of philosophy, for 
awing the human mind by stories of raw-head and 
bloody bones, to a distrust of its own vision ; and to 
repose implicitly on that of others; to go backward 
instead of forward to look for improvement ; to be- 
lieve that government, religion, morality, and every 
other science w^ere in the highest perfection in ages 
of the darkest ignorance, and that nothing can ever be 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 219 

devised more perfect than wliat was established by 
our forefathers. To these, I will add, that I was a 
sincere well-wisher to the success of the French revo- 
lution, and still wish it may end in the establishment 
of a free and well-ordered republic, but I have not 
been insensible under the atrocious depredations they 
have committed on our commerce. The first object 
of my heart is my own country. In that is embarked 
my family, my fortune and my own existence. I 
have not one farthing of interest, nor one fibre of at- 
tachment out of it, nor a single motive of preference 
of any one nation to another, but in proportion as 
they are more or less friendly to us. But, though 
deeply feeling the injuries of France, I did not think 
war the surest means of redressing them. I did be- 
lieve that a mission, sincerely disposed to preserve 
peace, would obtain for us a peaceable and honorable 
settlement and retribution; and I appeal to you to 
say, whether this might not have been obtained, if 
either of your colleagues had been of the same senti- 
ment with yourself." 

The new American envoys to Paris were received 
by the Directory with studied coldness and con- 
tempt. On the 19th of March, 1798, the President 
informed Congress that the dispatches received from 
their envoys afforded no ground to hope that their 
mission would be successful He recomm -«ided that 



220 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

the country be put in a state of defense by providing 
military stores and an efficient revenue. He had also 
withdrawn the instructions which had been given to 
the custom-house officers to restrain armed vessels 
from leaving our ports, except in certain particular 
cases. On the 8th of April the Senate resolved to 
publish the dispatches of the American envoys; and 
these revealed, among other things, a disgraceful at- 
tempt on the part of Talleyrand to sell the friendly 
dispositions of the Directory and of himself to the 
United States on the payment of a large sum of 
money. 

General indignation now pervaded the whole 
country against the French people and government. 
A provisional army was at once authorized of twenty 
thousand men. A tax on stamps and a direct tax on 
lands were immediately imposed, for the purpose of 
supporting the expenses of an anticipated war. The 
foundations of the American navy were then laid; 
vigorous measures seemed to characterize the admin- 
istration, and resolute purposes to inflame the people. 
Mr. Jefferson gives the following picture, in a let- 
ter to Mr. Madison, of the state of the public mind 
at this crisis : 

" The popular movement in the Eastern States is 
checked, as we expected, and war addresses are 
showerin)! in from New Jersey and the great trading 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 221 

towns. However, we will trust that a nearer view 
of war and a land tax will oblige the great mass of 
the people to attend; at present the war-hawks talk 
of septembrizing,* deportation, and the examples of 
quelling sedition set by the French executive. All 
the firmness of the human mind is now in a state 
of requisition.'^ And on May the 3d : " The spirit 
kindled up in the towns is wonderful. These and 
'New Jersey are pouring in their addresses, offering 
life and fortune ; '' and he says that the President's 
answers are " more thrasonic than the addresses." 
He regards all hope of peace as then destroyed, and 
supposes that the President's threats are not confined 
to France, but are extended to his fellow-citizens. 
He states that the French citizens, taking alarm at 
his alien bill, were going off, and among them, Vol- 
ney, whom he believes to have been the principal ob- 
ject of the bill. 

To another correspondent, a young lawyer in 
Fredericksburg, who had informed him of Mr. Lu- 
ther Martin's attack on him, he writes a fev/ days af- 
terward : " At this moment all the passions are boil- 
ing over, and one who keeps himself cool and clear of 
the contagion, is so far below the point of ordinary 

* Septembrist is defined as " an agent in the massacres in 
Paris, committed in patriotic frenzy, committed ou the 22d 
of September, 1792.'* '^ 



222 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

conversation, that he finds himself insulated in every 
society. However, the fever will not last ; war, land 
tax and stamp tax are sedatives which must cool its 
aP(jor." — " It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid 
war ; but if it actually shall take place, no matter by 
whom brought on, we must defend ourselves." 

In June Messrs. Pinckney and Marshall returned 
home from France; Mr. Gerry yet remained. The 
two former were received with great demonstrations 
of popular respect. The future relations of the coun- 
try toward France continued to engage the public 
mind, and to occupy the deliberations of the Cabinet 
until the succeeding 25th of February, when Mr. 
Adams nominated Messrs. Ellsworth, of Connecticut, 
Henry of Virginia, and Murray, of Maryland, as 
ministers to France. Mr. Henry declined the appoint- 
ment. The negotiations of the new envoys were more 
successful than those of their predecessors. They had 
also a different power to deal with than the imbecile 
and vacillating Directory. The strong arm of !N'a- 
poleon had seized the reins of government, and hia 
towering genius then directed her destinies. A 
treaty on liberal and equitable principles was soon ad- 
justed between him and the x\merican representa- 
tives, and the evils of an apprehended war were 
averted from both countries. 

Imme<iUately after these events a new subject of 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 223 

interest absorbed the popular attention. Tins was 
the general election, which was about to take place. 
The errors which Mr. Adams had committed, his own 
personal unpopularity, and the grovring strength of 
the democratic party, were silently but effectually 
working the overthrow of the faction in power. The 
death of Washington, which occurred at this period, 
had shorn the Federal party of a great portion of its 
strength and popularity. Every thing presaged the 
coming supremacy of the Republicans. 

Mr. Jefferson thus speaks to Mr. Madison of the 
approaching presidential election. ^^ As the con- 
veyance is confidential, I can say something on a 
subject which, to those who do not know my real 
dispositions respecting it, might seem indelicate. 
The Federalists begin to be very seriously alarmed 
about their election next fall. Their speeches in 
private, as well as their public and private demeanor 
to me, indicate it strongly." He then details the 
probable votes of most of the States, and thus con- 
cludes : " Still these are the ideas of the Repub- 
licans only in these three States, and we must make 
great allowance for their sanguine views. Upon the 
whole, I consider it as rather more doubtful than the 
last election, in which I was not deceived in more 
than a vote or two." 

On the 12th of May he writes to the saime corre- 



224: J^IFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

spondent : '^ The Federalists have not been able to 
carry a single strong measure in the lower House 
the whole session. When they met it was believed 
they had a majority of twenty; but many of these 
were new and moderate men, and soon saw the true 
character of the party to which they had been well 
disposed while at a distance. The tide, too, of public 
opinion sets so strongly against the federal proceed- 
ings, that this melted off their majority, and dis- 
mayed the heroes of the party. The Senate alone re- 
mained undismayed to the last. Firm to their pur- 
pose, regardless of public opinion, and more disposed 
to coerce than to court it, not a man of the majority 
gave way in the least." 

Both parties were fully aware of the magnitude of 
the interests at stake, and prepared themselves to 
make prodigious exertions to secure an ultimate 
triumph. 

One of the chief obstacles to the popularity of 
Mr. Jefferson at this crisis was the fact, that he was 
charged by popular rumor with having sent Dr. Lo- 
gan of Philadelphia on a private mission of con- 
ciliation to Paris, after the defeat of the Embassy of 
Pinckney and MarshalL It was supposed that Mr. 
Jefferson's attachment to France, against which the 
United States were then incensed and indignant, had 
induced h)[Ai to dispatch this agent thither secretly in 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 225 

order to avert hostilities. It was proved that Mr. Jef- 
ferson furnished Logan with a certificate of his citi- 
zenship and character, together with a passport. Dr. 
Logan Vvas treated by the French as he deserved, with 
contempt, and his mission utterly failed. When the 
facts became known, the public mind was incensed 
against Logan for his unauthorized and unwelcome 
interference, and Mr. Jeiferson received a share of 
the general odium, as having been his patron. The 
latter however denied most positively that he had 
commissioned Logan to undertake his ill-starred expe- 
dition. The Federal party as vehemently asserted 
the contrary. 



CHAPTER XIIL 

Popular Excitement Previous to the Election of 1801 — Result 
of the Popular Vote — Jefferson's Letter to Burr — Election 
in the House of Representatives — The Equality of Votes 
Between Jefferson and Burr — Influence of Alexander 
Hamilton — Election of Jefferson to the Presidency — His 
Inaugural Address — Letter to Eldredge Gerry — Mr. Jeffer- 
son's Cabinet — His Letter to Thomas Paine — Mr. Living- 
son Appointed Minister to France— War between tlie 
United States and Tripoli— Its Incidents and Results — 
Mr. Jefferson's First Message to Congress — Measures of 
the Administration — Negotiations Respecting Louisiana. 

As the period of the election approached, the ex- 
citement throughout the nation became more general 
and intense. The struggle between the party about 
to be driven from power, and the party about to 
secure it, was bitter and violent. N'ever perhaps in 
the history of the country was a destructive conflict 
and collision so imminent as at this crisis of the na- 
tional history. The election took place in Novem- 
ber. Jefferson and Burr were the candidates of the 
Republicans; John Adams and Charles C. Pinckney 
were the candidates of the Federalists. ■^•" The votes 
given to Jefferson and Burr were those of 'New York, 

* For the political parties of that day, see above, page 167, 
note. 

226 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 227 

twelve; of Pennsylvania, eight out of fifteen; of 
Maryland, five out of ten; of Virginia, twenty-one; 
of Kentucky, four; of North Carolina, eight out of 
twelve; of Tennessee, three; of South Carolina, 
eight; of Georgia, four. The Eepuhlieans thus re- 
ceived seventy-three out of one hundred and thirty- 
eight votes. The Federalists received sixty-five 
votes, one of which was given to Mr. Jay, and the 
balance to Messrs. Adams and Pinckney. Mr. Ham- 
ilton, being convinced of the unfitness of Mr. Adams 
for a second term of office, from the unpopularity 
with which he had covered the Federal party during 
his first administration, was opposed to his re-elec- 
tion; and was the means of preventing the votes of 
South Carolina from being given to Mr. Adams, in 
consequence of the preparation of a pamphlet which 
clearly set forth the fatal defects and blunders of that 
officer. But by a malicious and crafty trick of Burr, 
the contents of that pamphlet were prematurely pub- 
lished and perverted in such a manner, that it was 
made instrumental in the defeat not only of Mr. 
Adams, in South Carolina, but also of Mr. Pinckney ; 
a result which was utterly hostile to the wishes of Mr. 
Hamilton, as well as of a large majority of the Fed- 
eral party, who earnestly desired to promote the elec- 
tion of Mr. Pinckney. 

At the popular election the number of votes ob- 



228 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

tallied by the Republicans was equally divided be- 
tvreen Jefferson and Burr. According to the ai 
rangement existing at that time, the candidate wlio 
received the largest number of votes became P^re:^i- 
dent, and the second on the list became Vice-Presi- 
dent. But in the present instance Jefferson and 
Burr being equal, the election was thrown into the 
House of Representatives. Previous, however, to 
the occurrence of this event, the prevalent rumor was 
that Mr. Jefferson had received a majority over Mr. 
Burr. On the 15th of December, while he himself 
was under that impression, Jefferson wrote a letter to 
Burr, in which he gives him to understand that he re- 
gretted deeply that he would not be able to offer him 
a place in his Cabinet. Says he : '^ I feel most sen- 
sibly the loss we sustain of your aid in our new ad- 
ministration. It leaves a chasm in my arrange- 
ments which cannot be adequately filled up. I had 
endeavored to compose an administration whose tal- 
ents, integrity, names and dispositions should at once 
inspire unbounded confidence in the public mind, 
and insure a perfect harmony in the conduct of the 
public business." And yet Mr. Jefferson declares in 
his Diary, in reference to this same man, that very 
soon after his acquaintance with Mr. Burr, his con- 
duct had inspired him with distrust."' This incon- 
* See Jefferson's Correspondence. Vol. V., p. 520, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 2^9 

sistency is one out of many evidences which might be 
adduced to show that Mr. Jefferson was a supple poli- 
tician, who, with very great craft, made himself all 
things to all men. This peculiarity of his character 
and of his talents furnishes to some extent the ex- 
planation of his constant attainment of office through 
the whole course of his life. 

After the result of the election had become known, 
the popular excitement became still more intense. 
The Eepublicans were overwhelmed with terror lest 
by some means the election in the House might be 
turned by the Federalists to the ultimate defeat of 
their opponents. The Republicans determined that 
if the Federalists used their majority in Congress to 
defeat the popular will, either in preventing an elec- 
tion, or by choosing different persons from those al- 
ready designated by the majority of the nation, the 
attempt should be crushed by force. The republican 
governors both of Virginia and Pennsylvania were 
prepared to march a military force to Washington, 
in order to overturn the usurpers, undo what they 
might have done, and refer the matter back again di- 
rectly to the people. 

We will not follow all the details of this memora- 
ble conflict, which shook the nation to its centre. 
The balloting began in the House on the 11th of 



230 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

February, 1801. Thirty-five ballots were given with- 
out any change or variation. These occupied six 
days ; during which period the scene presented was a 
singular one. The issue being uncertain, terror be- 
gan to pervade the public mind. This was the period 
of anarchy, respecting which Burr afterward de- 
clared that, had he been disposed to overturn the gov- 
ernment, like Cromwell or Bonaparte, he could have 
done it with the greatest ease, by marching at the 
head of five hundred soldiers into the house, dissolv- 
ing the Assembly by force, and assuming the reins of 
authority. The position and relative strength of 
parties were such, that the ballotings bid fair to be- 
come endless, the Democratic delegates voting uni- 
formly in such a ratio that a tie existed between Jef- 
ferson and Burr ; and the Federalists, unable to elect 
their own candidates, seemed indisposed to confer any 
of their votes upon either of the candidates of the 
rival party. The state of affairs was daily becoming 
more desperate and perilous. 

At this crisis the magnanimity and patriotism of 
Alexander Hamilton saved the country. Finding 
that the posture of affairs Avas becoming more dan- 
gerous from day to day, in consequence of treasonable 
and violent measures of redress which began to be 
suggested both by certain portions of the Federal 
party and of the Democratic, he resolved to use his 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 231 

great influence with the Federalists to put an end to 
the confusion, and secure a competent majority to 
his ancient and implacable foe, Mr. Jefferson, in op- 
position to Mr. Burr, whom he regarded as an unprin- 
cipled man. Hamilton was willing to forget his pri- 
vate wrongs to promote the welfare of his country. 
In a letter to a senator of this date he says : If there 
he a man in the world I ought to hate, it is Jefferson, 
With Burr I have always been personally well. But 
the public good must be paramount to every pr'ivate 
consideration.^^ To a member of the House he writes 
as follows : " To contribute to the disappointment and 
mortification of Mr. Jefferson, would he on my part 
only to retaliate for unequivocal proofs of enmity; 
but in a case like this, it would be base to listen to 
personal considerations." 

Mr. Hamilton used his influence in accordance 
with these principles; and on the thirty-sixth ballot, 
which occurred on the 17th of February, Mr. Jeffer- 
son received the votes of ten states out of the sixteen. 
These were !N'ew York, E'ew Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Virginia, I^orth Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Ken- 
tucky, Vermont and Maryland. Four states — Kew 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode 
Island — voted for Mr. Burr; and South Carolina 
and Delaware voted blank ballots. So little apprecia- 
tion had Mr. Jefferson of the real power which put 



232 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

liiiii in his high place, that he ^vrote as follows to Mr. 
Monroe on the 15th of February: 

'^ If they could have been permitted to pass a law 
for putting the government into the hands of an 
officer, they certainly would have prevented an elec- 
tion. But we thought it best to declare openly and 
firmly, one and all, that the day such an act passed, 
the Middle States would arm, and that no such usur- 
pation, even for a single day, should be submitted to. 
This first shook them, and they were completely 
alarmed at the resource for which we declared, to wit, 
a convention, to reorganize the government, and to 
amend it. The very word convention gives them the 
horrors ; as in the present democratical spirit of 
America, they fear they should lose some of the fa- 
vorite morsels of the Constitution. Many attempts 
have been made to obtain terms from me. I have de- 
clared to them unequivocally, that I would not re- 
ceive the government on capitulation; that I would 
not go into it with my hands tied." 

The following extract from his Inaugural Ad- 
dress will give a correct idea of the policy and prin- 
ciples according to which he had determined to ad- 
minister the government : 

" Friends and fellow-citizens : Called upon to un- 
dertake the duties of the first executive office of our 
country, I avail myself of the presence of that por- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 233 

tion of my fellow-citizens which are here assembled, 
to express my grateful thanks for the favor with 
which they have been pleased to look toward me, to 
declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above 
my talents, and that I approach it \vith those anxious 
and awful presentiments, which the greatness of the 
charge, and the w^eakness of my powers, so justly in- 
spire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruit- 
ful land, traversing all the seas with the rich produce 
of their industry ; engaged in commerce with nations, 
who feel power and forget right ; advancing rapidly 
to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye ; when I 
contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the 
honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved 
countrv, committed to the issue and the auspices of 
this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and hum- 
ble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. 
Utterly indeed should I despair, did not the presence 
of many whom I here see, remind me that in the 
other high authorities provided by our Constitution, 
I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of 
zeal, on which to rely under all difiiculties. To you 
then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign 
functions of legislation, and to those associated with 
you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and 
support which may enable us to steer with safety the 



^34 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

vessel in which we are all embarked amidst the con- 
flicting elements of a troubled world. 

" During the contest of opinion through which we 
have passed, the animation of discussions and exer- 
tions has sometimes worn an aspect which might im- 
pose on strangers unused to think freely, and to 
speak and to write what they think; but this being 
now decided by the voice of the nation, announced 
according to the rules of the Constitution, all will of 
course arrange themselves under the will of the law, 
and unite in common efforts for the common good. 
All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that 
though the will of the majority is in all cases to pre- 
vail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that 
the minority possess their equal rights, which equal 
laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression. 
Let us then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and 
one mind; let us restore to social intercourse that 
harmony and affection, without which liberty and 
even life itself are but dreary things; and let us re- 
flect that having banished from our land that re- 
ligious intolerance under which mankind so long 
bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we 
countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as 
wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecu- 
tions. During the throes and convulsions of the an- 
cient world, during the agonizing spasms of infur- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 235 

iated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his 
long lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agita- 
tion of the billows should reach even this distant and 
peaceful shore — that this should be more felt and 
feared by some and less by others, and should divide 
opinions as to measures of safety; but every differ- 
ence of opinion, is not a difference of principle. We 
have called by different names, brethren of the same 
principle. We are all Eepublicans — all Federalists. 
If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve 
this Union, or to change its republican form, let 
them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety 
with which error of opinion may be tolerated where 
reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that 
some honest men fear that a republican government 
cannot be strong; that this government is not strong 
enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full 
tide of successful experiment, abandon a government 
which has so far kept us free and firm, on the theo- 
retic and visionary fear that this government, the 
world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to 
preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the 
contrary, the strongest government on earth. I be- 
lieve it the only one where every man, at the call of 
the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and 
Avould meet invasions of the public order as his own 
personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man 



236 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

cannot be trusted with the government of himself. 
Can he then be trusted with the government of 
others ? Or have we found angels in the form of 
kings to govern him? Let history answer the ques- 
tion. Let us then, with courage and confidence, pur- 
sue our own Federal and Kepublican principles ; our 
attachment to union and representative government. 
Kindly separated by nature, and a wide ocean, from 
the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe ; 
too high minded to endure the degradations of the 
others; possessing a chosen country, with room 
enough for descendants to the thousandth and thou- 
sandth generation ; entertaining a due sense of our 
equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the ac- 
quisition of our own industry, to honor and confi- 
dence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from 
birth but from our actions, and their sense of them ; 
enlightened by a benign religion, professed indeed 
and practised in various forms, yet all of them in- 
culcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and 
the love of man ; acknowledging and adoring an over- 
ruling Providence, which by all its dispensations 
proves that it delights in the happiness of man here, 
and his greater happiness hereafter; with all these 
blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy 
and prosperous people ? Still one thing more, fel- 
low-citizens ; a wise and frugal government, which re- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 237 

straining men from injuring one another, shall leave 
them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of 
industry and improvement, and shall not take from 
the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is 
the sum of good government ; and this is necessary to 
close the circle of our felicities. 

^*' About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of 
duties which comprehend everything dear and valua- 
ble to you, it is proper you should understand what I 
deem the essential principles of our government, and 
consequently those which ought to shape its adminis- 
tration. I will compress them within the narrowest 
compass they will bear, stating the general principle, 
but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice 
to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious 
or political; peace, commerce and honest friendship 
with all nations ; entangling alliances with none ; the 
support of the State governments in all their rights, 
as the most competent administration for ourdomestic 
concerns, and the surest bulwark against anti-repub- 
lican tendencies ; the preservation of the general gov- 
ernment in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet- 
anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a 
jealous care of the right of election by the people ; a 
mild and safe corrective of abuses, which are lopped 
by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies 
are unprovided: absolute acquiescence in the deci- 



238 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

sions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, 
from which is no appeal but to force, the vital prin- 
ciple and immediate parent of despotism ; a well-dis- 
ciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for 
the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve 
them; the supremacy of the civil over the military 
authority; economy in the public expense, that labor 
may be lightly burdened ; the honest payment of our 
debts, and sacred preservation of the public faith ; en- 
couragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its 
handmaid; the diffusion of information and ar- 
raignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason ; 
freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and free- 
dom of the person under protection of the habeas cor- 
pus ; and trial by juries impartially selected. These 
principles form the bright constellation which has 
gone before us, and guided our steps through an age 
of revolution and reformation. The wdsdom of all 
our sages, and blood of our heroes, have been devoted 
to their attainment; they should be the creed of our 
political faith ; the text of civic instruction ; the 
touchstone by which to try the services of those we 
trust ; and, should we wander from them in moments 
of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, 
and regain the road which alone leads to peace, lib- 
erty and safety." 

Further light may be obtained in reference to the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 239 

feelings and purposes of the new President from the 
following extract from a letter to Eldredge Gerrj, 
dated March 29, 1801 : 

" I thought, on jour return, that if you had come 
forward boldly, and appealed to the public by a full 
statement, it would have had a great effect in your 
favor personally, and that of the republican cause, 
then oppressed almost unto death. But I judged 
from a tact of the southern pulse. I suspect that 
of the north was different, and decided your con- 
duct, and perhaps it has been as well. If the revolu- 
tion of sentiment has been later, it has perhaps been 
not less sure. At length it has arrived. What with 
the natural current of opinion, which has been set- 
ting over to us for eighteen months, and the immense 
impetus which was given to it from the 11th to the 
17th of February, we may now say that the United 
States, from ^ew York southwardly, are as unani- 
mous in the principles of '76, as they were in '76. 
The only difference is, that the leaders who remain 
behind are more numerous and bolder than the apos- 
tles of toryism in '76. The reason is, that we are 
now justly more tolerant than we could safely have 
been then, circumstanced as we were. Your part of 
the Union, though as absolutely republican as ours, 
had drunk deeper of the delusion, and is therefore 
slower in recovering from it. The a^gis of govern- 



240 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ment, and the temples of religion and of justice, have 
all been prostituted there, to toll us back to the times 
when we burnt witches. But your people will rise 
again. They will awake like Samson from his sleep, 
and carry away the gates and posts of the city. You, 
my friend, are destined to rally them again under 
their former banners, and when called to the post, 
exercise it with firmness and with inflexible adher- 
ence to your own principles. The people will sup- 
port you, notwithstanding the bowlings of the raven- 
ous crew from whose jaws they are escaping. It will 
be a great blessing to our country, if we can once 
more restore harmony and social love among its citi- 
zens. I confess, as to myself, it is almost the first 
object of my heart, and one to which I would sacrifice 
every thing but principle. With the people I have 
hopes of effecting it. But their coryphaei are incur- 
ables. I expect little from them. 

" I was not deluded by the eulogiums of the pub- 
lic papers in the first moments of change. If they 
could have continued to get all the loaves and fishes, 
that is, if I would have gone over to them, they would 
continue to eulogize. But I well knew that the mo- 
ment that such removals should take place, as the jus- 
tice of the preceding administration ought to have 
executed, their hue and cry would be set up, and they 
would take their old stand. I shall disregard that 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 24:1 

also. Mr. Adams's last appointments, when he 
knew he was naming counselors and aids for me, and 
not for himself, I set aside as far as depends on me. 
Officers who have been guilty of gross abuses of office, 
such as marshals packing juries, &c., I shall now re- 
move, as my predecessor ought in justice to have done. 
The instances will be few, and governed by strict rule, 
not party passion. The right of opinion shall suffer 
no invasion from me. Those who have acted well 
have nothing to fear, however they may have differed 
from me in opinion; those that have done ill, how- 
ever, have nothing to hope ; nor shall I fail to do jus- 
tice, lest it should be ascribed to that difference of 
opinion. A coalition of sentiments is not for the 
interest of the printers. They, like the clergy, live 
by the zeal they can kindle, and the schisms they can 
create. It is the contest of opinion in politics, as 
well as religion, which makes us take great interest 
in them, and bestow our money liberally on those who 
furnish aliment to our appetite. The mild and sim- 
ple principles of the Christian philosophy w^ould pro- 
duce too much calm, too much regularity of good, to 
extract from its disciples a support for a numerous 
priesthood, were they not to sophisticate it, ramify it, 
split it into hairs, and twist its texts till they cover 
the divine morality of its author with mysteries, and 
require a priesthood to explain them. The Quakers 
i6 



242 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

seem to have discovered this. They have no priests, 
therefore no schisms.* They judge of the text by 
the dictates of common sense and common morality."^ 

In the formation of his cabinet Mr. Jefferson se- 
lected the following persons : Mr. Madison was made 
Secretary of State; Mr. Gallatin, Secretary of the 
Treasury; General Dearborn of Massachusetts, Sec- 
retary of War; Eobert Smith of Maryland was ap- 
pointed Secretary of the Xavy ; and Levi Lincoln of 
M assachusetts, Attorney-General. 

It was at this period that Mr. Jefferson addressed 
the following important letter to Thomas Paine, the 
author of the Age of Reason. It indicates his high 
esteem for the character and even for some of the sen- 
timents of that celebrated man : 

" Dear Slr : Your letters of October the 1st, 4th, 
6th and IGth, came duly to hand, and the papers 
which they covered were, according to your permis- 
sion, published in the newspapers, and in a pamphlet, 
and under your own name. These papers contain 
precisely our principles, and I hope they will be gen- 
erally recognized here. The return of our citizens 
from the frenzy into which they had been wrought 

* That delightful state of unity among the Quakers may- 
have been true in Jefferson's day, but it has not continued to 
the present time^ 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 243 

partly by ill conduct in France, partly by artifices 
practiced on them, is almost entire, and will, I be- 
lieve, become quite so. But these details, too minute 
and long for a letter, will be better developed by Mr. 
Dawson, the bearer of this, a member of the late 
Congress, to whom I refer you for them. He goes 
in the Maryland, a sloop of war, which will wait a 
few days at Havre to receive his letters, to be writ- 
ten on his arrival at Paris. You expressed a wish to 
get a passage to this country in a public vessel. Mr. 
Dawson is charged with orders to the captain of the 
Maryland to receive and accommodate you with a 
passage back, if you can be ready to depart at such 
short warning. Kobert R. Livingston is appointed 
minister plenipotentiary to the republic of France, 
but will not leave this till we receive the ratification 
of the convention by Mr. Dawson. I am in hopes 
you will find us returned generally to sentiments 
worthy of former times. In these it will be your 
glory to have steadily labored, and with as much ef- 
fect as any man living. That you may long live to 
continue your useful labors, and to reap their reward 
in the thankfulness of nations, is my sincere prayer. 
Accept assurances of my high esteem and affectionate 
attachment.'' 

One of the first acts of the new administration was 
to appoint Chancellor Livingston, of New York, min- 



244: LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ister to France. It was on this occasion that Mr. Jef- 
ferson, in his instructions to him, asserted the great 
democratic principle that ^^ free ships make free 
goods ; " and while he admitted that the prevalent 
practice of nations was on the contrary doctrine, he 
held that a reform should take place on the subject. 
He contended that a ship sailing on the high seas was 
solely within the jurisdiction of the nation to which 
it belonged, and he denied the reasonableness of the 
exception for contraband. He desired Mr. Living- 
ston to cooperate as far as he could in establishing 
the principle abroad. 

In May, 1801, Mr. Jefferson dispatched Commo- 
dore Dale with a squadron of three frigates and a 
sloop-of-war to the Mediterranean against the bashaw 
of Tripoli, who had declared war against the 
United States, and had commenced piratical opera- 
tions against our commerce. The squadron arrived 
off Tripoli in August, immediately blockaded it, and 
captured a polacre * of fourteen guns. Many en- 
gagements ensued at successive periods subsequently. 
The Enterprise under Captain Sterret, was victorious 
in an action with a Tripolitan corsair off Malta. 
Commodore Murray, in the frigate Constitution, was 
attacked off Tripoli by a formidable array of gun- 

* The polacre is peculiar to the Mediterranean. Its masts 
have no caps or crosstrees. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 245 

boats, and compelled them to retire with immense 
loss. The frigate Philadelphia, Captain Bainbridge, 
ran upon a rock when surrounded by the enemy's 
boats, and his crew of three hundred men were com- 
pelled to surrender. The vessel herself was after- 
ward retaken from the enemy by Captain Stephen 
Decatur. The Americans now formed a coalition 
with Hamet, a deposed brother of the reigning 
basbaw, for the purpose of reinstating him on the 
throne. The probability of this result brought the 
bashaw to terms ; a favorable peace was conducted by 
Colonel Lear ; and the American prisoners, who had 
been treated with the most horrid barbarity, were re- 
leased. 

Congress assembled on the first Monday in De- 
cember, and Mr. Jefferson sent to them his written 
message, instead of delivering an oral speech, as had 
previously been the custom. The following is an ex- 
tract from the letter which accompanied the message : 

^^ The circumstances under which we find ourselves 
at this place rendering inconvenient the mode hereto- 
fore practiced, of making by personal address the 
first communications between the legislative and exec- 
utive branches, I have adopted that by message, as 
used on all subsequent occasions through the session. 
In doing this I have had principal regard to the con- 
venience of the legislature, to the economy of their 



246 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

time, to their relief from the embarrassment of im- 
mediate answers on subjects not yet fully before them, 
and to the benefits thence resulting to the public af- 
fairs. Trusting that a procedure founded on these 
motives will meet their approbation, I beg leave 
through you, sir, to communicate the inclosed mes- 
sage, with the documents accompanying it, to the 
honorable the Senate, and pray you to accept for 
yourself and them the homage of my high respect and 
consideration.'^ The reason, however, which weighed 
with him probably more than any other was, that a 
speech savored of the forms of royalty. But he well 
knew that this motive would be fully understood and 
properly appreciated by those whose favor and appro- 
bation he was most desirous of obtaining. 

In this message Mr. Jefferson spoke of the various 
subjects which were then of prominent importance to 
the nation — including the census, the army, navy, 
taxation, the importance of the militia, agriculture, 
commerce, manufactures, navigation, the judiciary 
system, and a revision of the laws of naturalization. 

During the year 1802 many changes and reforms 
were introduced into the government of the country, 
in most of which the Executive acquiesced. The 
Republican party had a small majority in both 
Houses, and were enabled to carry their measures. 
The two great subjects of party conflict were the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 247 

repeal of the internal taxes, and of the law which 
had been passed creating a new set of Federal courts. 
In 1801 Spain had ceded Louisiana to France. 
This event excited the indignation and disgust of 
the citizens of the United States, inasmuch as the 
possession of Louisiana gave France the control of 
the port of ]^ew Orleans, which was the only outlet 
between the Western States and the Atlantic. In 
April, 1802, Mr. Jefferson addressed a letter to Mr. 
Livingston in Paris, in which he showed the evils 
which would ensue from the possession of this port 
and the surrounding country by France, and the 
infinite causes of irritation which would ensue be- 
tween the two countries. He directed Mr. Living- 
ston to commence negotiations with the French gov- 
ernment, in reference to the final adjustment of this 
important matter, and the ultimate disposal of Louis- 
iana in such a way that, by ceding or selling that ter- 
ritory to the United States, the interests of both 
countries might be secured, and the dangers of im- 
pending conflict between them might be happily 
averted. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

The Settlement of the Yazoo Claims in Alabama and Missis- 
sippi — The Purchase of Louisiana from France — Letter of 
Mr. Jefferson on the Subject to General Gates — Repeal of 
the Bankrupt Law — Mr. Jefferson's Views on the United 
States Bank — Death of Mrs. Eppes — Mr. Jefferson's Gun- 
Boat System — Results of his First Administration — Mr. 
Jefferson's Motives and Excuses for a Second Election — 
His Letter to Alexander I., Czar of Russia. 

An important measure connected with the admin- 
istration in 1803, was the passage of a law which pro- 
vided for the settlement of various claims to lands lo- 
cated in that vast tract of country extending from 
the western borders of South Carolina and Georgia to 
the Mississippi River. This country now constitutes 
the States of Alabama and Mississippi. Until the 
year 1803, the title of the Indians to this territory re- 
mained undisputed. Then South Carolina de- 
manded that portion of it lying along the southern 
boundary of Tennessee, by virtue^ of her original 
charter. Georgia also claimed the whole of it, under 
her own charter. The United States afterward be- 
came the claimant, by the right of conquest and the 
treaty of peace. 
248 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. ^49 

Conunissioners had been appointed by the United 
States to adjust the claim with Georgia, and also to 
satisfy the demands of the settlers. Some of the 
latter held their titles from grants made by the State 
of Georgia, and some from grants obtained from the 
United States. The former claimants endeavored to 
obtain a recognition and settlement of their rights 
from the United States, and were known by the 
epithet of the Yazoos. The greatest foe of these 
claimants was John Randolph of Roanoke, who ren- 
dered himself celebrated by his fierce, powerful, and 
sarcastic eloquence against their demands. The con- 
flict raged during eleven years, until at length it was 
finally settled in 1814, on the recommendation made 
by the commissioners, by the purchase of the rights 
of the Yazoo claimants by the United States for five 
millions of dollars. 

The negotiation with France for the purchase of 
Louisiana was attended with equal and more imme- 
diate success. The American ministers in Paris not 
only succeeded in negotiating for I^ew Orleans and 
the Florid as, but were able to effect a purchase of 
the whole of Louisiana, which contained a territory 
equal in extent to the whole previous territorial pos- 
sessions of the United States. 

By this treaty of purchase eleven millions, two 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars were to be paid to 



250 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

France, in six per cent, stock, three months after 
the delivery of the possession of the country; and 
certain claims held by American citizens against 
France, which were about equal to three and a half 
millions, were to be assumed by the United States. 
This territory was to be admitted to the confederacy 
as soon as it complied with the requirements of the 
Constitution. This acquired territory contained 
about a million of square miles, and had about ninety 
thousand civilized inhabitants in addition to the 
savages who still roamed over it. 

Mr. Jefferson was highly gratified at the conclu- 
sion of this treaty. It completed the supremacy of 
the United States throughout the southern peninsula, 
and gave compactness and unity to the territorial con- 
fines of the confederacy. In a letter to General 
Gates, he thus refers to this subject. It is dated at 
Washington, July 11, 1803. 

Dear General: I accept with pleasure, and with 
pleasure reciprocate your congratulations on the ac- 
quisition of Louisiana ; for it is a subject of mutual 
congratulation, as it interests every man of the na- 
tion. The territory acquired, as it includes all the 
waters of the Missouri and Mississippi, has more 
than doubled the area of the United States, and the 
new part is not inferior to the old in soil, climate, 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 251 

productions, and important communications. If our 
legislature dispose of it with the wisdom we have a 
right to expect, they may make it the means of tempt- 
ing all our Indians on the east side of the Mississippi 
to remove to the West, and of condensing instead of 
scattering our population. I find our opposition is 
very willing to pluck feathers from Monroe, although 
not fond of sticking them into Livingston's coat. 
The truth is, both have a just portion of merit ; and 
were it necessary, or proper, it would be shown that 
each has rendered peculiar services.'^ 

In another letter to Judge Breckenridge, he thus 
follows up his ideas of exultation at this bright 
achievement of his administration : — " Objections 
are raising to the eastward against the vast extent of 
our boundaries, and propositions are made to ex- 
change Louisiana, or a part of it, for the Floridas. 
But, as I have said, we shall get the Floridas with- 
out, and I would not give one inch of the waters of 
the Mississippi to any nation; because I see, in a 
light very important to our peace, the exclusive right 
to its navigation, and the admission of no nation into 
it, but as into the Potomac or Delaware, with our 
consent and under our police. These federalists see 
in this acquisition the formation of a new confed- 
eracy, embracing all the waters of the Mississippi, on 



252 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

both sides of it, and a separation of its eastern waters 
from us." 

One of the virtues of the character of Mr. Jeffer- 
son, consisted in the simplicity of his mind, which 
influenced him to avoid ostentation, pomp, ceremony 
and vain parade, and inclined him to give a prefer- 
ence to every mode of performing an action which 
combined the greatest convenience, and involved the 
least display. An application having been made to 
him by some of the citizens of Boston, in August, 
1803, to ascertain the date of his birth, in order to 
celebrate his birthday, he declined to communicate 
the information in a letter to Levi Lincoln, couched 
in the following words : '' With respect to the day 
on Avhich they wish to fix their anniversary, they 
may be told, that disapproving myself of transferring 
the honors and veneration for the great birthday of 
our republic to any individual, or of dividing them 
with individuals, I have declined letting my own 
birthday be known, and have engaged my family not 
to communicate it. This has been the uniform an- 
swer to every application of the kind." 

Another noteworthy feature of the first adminis- 
tration of Mr. Jefferson was the repeal of the bank- 
rupt law which had been first enacted in one of the 
late years of Mr. Adams' administration. This law, 
which had authorized the discharge of a debtor from 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 253 

all his preceding debts on the consent of a majority 
of his creditors, had been regarded as an invidious 
privilege granted to the mercantile community, es- 
pecially in the Southern States, where the agricul- 
tural interest was of more real value and importance 
to the community than the commercial. 

At this period a proposition w^as made in Con- 
gress to create a branch of the United States Bank 
in New Orleans. Mr. Jefferson embraced this op- 
portunity to repeat his first objections to that colos- 
sal institution, in the following language : 

" This institution is one of the most deadly hostil- 
ity existing against the principles and forms of our 
Constitution. The nation is, at this time, so strong 
and united in its sentiments, that it cannot be shaken 
at this moment. But suppose a series of untoward 
events should occur, sufficient to bring into doubt the 
competency of a republican government to meet a 
crisis of great danger, or to unhinge the confidence of 
the people in the public functionaries ; an institution 
like this, penetrating by its branches every part of 
the Union, acting by command and in phalanx, may 
in a critical moment upset the government. I deem 
no government safe which is under the vassalage of 
any self-constituted authorities, or any other author- 
ity than that of the nation, or its regular function- 
aries. What an obstruction could not this bank of the 



254: LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

United States, with all its branch banks, be in time 
of war ? It might dictate to us the peace we should 
accept, or withdraw its aids. Ought we then to 
give further growth to an institution so powerful, so 
hostile?" 

These general considerations are then followed by 
cogent arguments ad hominem. ^' That it is hostile 
we know, 1. From a knowledge of the principles of 
the persons composing the body of directors in every 
bank, principal, or branch ; and those of most of the 
stockholders. 2. From their opposition to the meas- 
ures and principles of the government, and to the 
election of those friendly to them ; and 3. From the 
sentiments of the newspapers they support. ]N"ow, 
while we are strong, it is the greatest duty we owe 
to the safety of our Constitution, to bring this power- 
ful enemy to a perfect subordination under its au- 
thorities. The first measure would be to reduce 
them to an equal footing only with other banks, as 
to the favors of the government. But in order to be 
able to meet a general combination of the banks 
against us, in a critical emergency, could we not 
make a beginning toward an independent use of our 
own money, toward holding our own deposits in all 
the banks where it is received, and letting the treas- 
urer give his draft or note, for payment at any 
particular place, which in a well-conducted govern- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 255 

ment ought to have as much credit as any private 
draft, or bank-note or bill, and would give us the 
same facilities which we derive from the banks ? " 

In the spring of 1804: Mr. Jefferson suffered a 
severe domestic bereavement in the death of Mrs. 
Eppes, one of his daughters. On this occasion the 
wife of ex-President Adams addressed him a letter 
of condolence, to which Mr. Jefferson responded in 
a similar spirit of friendship and conciliation. This 
correspondence became the cause of the renewal of 
the friendship which had formerly existed between 
Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, and continued unin- 
terruptedly during many years, until death put an 
end to the existence of both on the same anniversary * 
of the birthday of the nation's liberties. To Gov- 
ernor Page Mr. Jefferson writes, in reference to this 
calamity : 

" Others," he says, " may lose of their abundance, 
but I of my wants have lost even the half of all I 
had. My evening prospects now hang on the slen- 
der thread of a single life. Perhaps I may be des- 
tined to see even this last cord of parental affection 
broken. The hope with which I had looked forward 
to the moment when, resigning public cares to 
younger hands, I was to retire to that domestic com- 

♦ Both died July 4, 1826. See below, page 307. 



256 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

fort from which the last great step is to be taken, is 
fearfully blighted." 

On the reassembling of Congress, on the 5th of 
iN'ovember, Mr. Jefferson sent in his opening mes- 
sage. The chief peculiarity of this message is, that 
he therein recommends the adoption of the system of 
gun-boats for the protection of the harbors. These 
gun-boats he termed floating-batteries; and he esti- 
mated that two hundred and fifty of them would ef- 
fectually defend the fifteen harbors and the coasts of 
the United States. These he termed a cheap marine ; 
and Congress was induced to pass an appropriation 
of sixty thousand dollars, for the purpose of testing 
the feasibility of the plan. The matter excited much 
discussion at the time, and the gun-boats were gen- 
erally opposed and condemned by the officers of the 
navy. An opportunity was eagerly waited for to test 
the availability of this new arm of the service ; and it 
was not long before such an opportunity was af- 
forded. As these boats were sailing along the coast a 
violent storm arose, when some of them were driven 
ashore, some were swamped, and the whole of them 
destroyed or rendered entirely unfit for service. The 
gun-boats were thus proved to be utterly unable to 
resist even the pacific perils of the deep; and their 
total ruin cast a torrent of popular ridicule on the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 257 

Executive, who had so strenuously insisted on their 
superior availability and merit. 

During the first administration of Jefferson, which 
now terminated, the public debt had been reduced 
more than twelve millions; the territorial area of 
the United States had been doubled ; many expen- 
sive revenue offices had been abolished ; the taxes had 
been greatly diminished ; a war with France and 
Spain had been skillfully and honorably averted; 
the Tripolitans had been conquered ; successful war 
had been made on Tunis and Algiers ; and inter- 
nal prosperity, wealth, and improvement had prodi- 
giously increased. The first administration of Mr. 
Jefferson, therefore, terminated in a halo of popu- 
larity and splendor, which rendered his re-election 
inevitable; which made him for a brief period the 
idol of the nation, and the possessor of a degree of 
adulation second in intensity only to that which had 
become the permanent and unchanging inheritance 
of Washington. 

He commenced his second administration on the 
4th of March, 1805. The causes which induced 
him to accept a re-election, which resulted in a much 
greater majority than he had obtained on the first, are 
stated by Mr. Jefferson himself in the following let- 
ter of Mr. Gerry: 

" I sincerely regret that the unbounded calumnies 
17 



258 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of the Federal party have obliged me to throw myself 
on the verdict of my country for trial, my great de- 
sire having been to retire at the end of the present 
term, to a life of tranquillity ; and it was my decided 
purpose when I entered into office.'^ They force my 
continuance. If we can keep the vessel of state as 
steadily in her course for another four years, my 
earthly purposes will be accomplished, and I shall 
be free to enjoy, as you are doing, my family, my 
farm, and my books." When it is considered that 
Mr. Jefferson was a zealous and primitive dissenter 
from the unlimited re-eligibility of the executive; 
and that he espoused with ardor short terms of office, 
and had originally intended to hold the office but four 
years, it must be deeply lamented that he suffered the 
clamor of enemies to divert him from establishing a 
precedent of so much vital consequence to the purity 
and duration of our free institutions. The reasons 
he adduces for this dereliction are such as might with 
equal force be alleged for a continuance in the office 
for life. How much of real glory he lost by missing 
this opportunity of putting the seal of sincerity and 
the test of consistency on his original professions, 
can only be estimated by a full and just consideration 

* A similar change of mind was experienced by Thomas 
Jefferson's remote successor, Grover Cleveland, who entered 
his first term of presidential office not only determined, but 
pledged, not to be again a candidate for that office. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 259 

of the difficulty attending the sacrifice of ambition to 
principle; of resisting the temptation of personal 
vanity for the enduring future applause of mankind. 

Devoted to science, and at all times intent on im- 
provements in literature and knowledge, as well as 
politics and government, Mr. Jefferson now projected 
the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the Columbia 
River, for the purpose of exploring and ascertaining 
the geography, natural history, climate, riches, re- 
sources, and peculiarities of the new purchase of the 
Territory of Louisiana. 

It was at this period that Mr. Jefferson addressed 
a letter to the Emperor Alexander I. of Russia, in 
behalf of the principle of neutral rights, which he 
earnestly desired might be duly secured by the 
treaties which were about to be formed by l^apoleon 
with the powers of Europe, at the general pacifica- 
tion which was then anticipated. In this remark- 
able letter, after speaking of his gratification at see- 
ing advanced to the government of so extensive a 
portion of the earth, and at so early a period of his 
life, a sovereign whose ruling desire was the hap- 
piness of his people, and whose philanthropy was ex- 
tended to " a distant and infant nation, unoffending 
in its course and unambitious in its views," he fur- 
ther compliments the emperor on his efforts toward 
the pacification of Europe, and reminds him of the 



^^0 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

common interest which the United States and the 
northern nations of Europe have in preserving neu- 
tral rights. He suggests that the emperor and Na- 
poleon have it in their power, at the approaching 
pacification, to render eminent services to nations in 
general, by incorporating into the act of pacification 
a correct definition of the rights of neutrals on the 
high seas, and '' that these rights thus defined could 
be enforced, if further sanction were necessary, by an 
exclusion of the nation violating them from all com- 
merce with the rest." 

" Having taken," he says, '' no part in the past or 
existing troubles of Europe, we have no part to act 
on its pacification. But as principles may then be 
settled in which we have a deep interest, it is a great 
happiness for us that they are placed under the pro- 
tection of an empire, who, looking beyond the narrow 
bounds of an individual nation, will take under the 
cover of his equity the rights of the absent and un- 
represented. It is only by a happy concurrence of 
good characters and good occasions, that a step can 
now and then be taken to advance the well-being of 
nations. If the present occasion be good, I am sure 
your majesty's character will not be wanting to avail 
the world of it. By monuments of such good ofiices 
may your life become an epoch in the history of the 
condition of men, and may He who called it into 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. ^61 

being, for the good of the human family, give it 
length of days and success, and have it always in his 
holy keeping." 

This communication was addressed by Mr. Jeffer- 
son directly to the Autocrat, and not to his Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, through the American Secretary 
of State, as diplomatic usage would have required. 
In pursuing this course, the President designed to 
carry out and illustrate the supposed simplicity of re- 
publican forms, in every department of his adminis- 
tration, from the most dignified to the most minute. 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Conspiracy of Aaron Burr— The Nature of his Enterprise 
—Mr. Randolph's Resokition in Congress— Arrest of Col. 
Burr — Incidents of the Trial— Eloquence of Wm. Wirt — 
Jefferson's Prejudices Against Burr— The Embargo Law 
— Mr. Jefiferson's Last ]\Iessage to Congress — Addresses 
Sent to Mr. Jefferson on his Retiring — Address of the 
Legislature of Virginia— Inauguration of Mr. Madison- 
Mr. Jefferson's Final Return to Monticello — His Feelings 
on this Occasion. 

The most important event connected with the sec- 
ond administration of Mr. Jefferson was the con- 
spiracy and trial of Aaron Burr. This celebrated 
man had lost the confidence of the Democratic party 
which had previously placed him in the office of Vice- 
President, in consequence of his supposed intrigues 
with the Federalists. He endeavored to regain of- 
ficial rank and influence by obtaining the post of 
Governor of l^ew York. In that State many of his 
former opponents among the Federalists, influenced 
by hatred to the administration of Jefferson, were dis- 
posed to give Burr tlieir assistance. The latter 
would have been elected had it not been for the de- 
262 




"^ 



LIFE OP THOMAS JEFFERSON. 263 

termined opposition of Alexander Hamilton, who re- 
garded Burr as a dangerous and unscrupulous adven- 
turer, and exerted himself to defeat him. The con- 
sequence of this opposition was the unfortunate duel, 
in which Hamilton became the victim of the insatia- 
ble vengeance of his foe. This deed forever blasted 
the prospects of Burr in ISTew York, and com- 
pelled or induced him to turn his enterprising 
and crafty mind to the elaboration of other schemes 
of ambition and aggrandizement. Then it was 
that Burr foi-med his gigantic plans of conquest 
and glory in the far South- West. Then it was that 
he resolved to concentrate all his great powers on the 
establishment of a splendid empire, composed of the 
extreme southern territories of the United States, 
combined with a conquered portion of the ancient 
realms of Montezuma. 'Nov was Burr unfitted to the 
accomplishment of these lofty and aspiring aims. 
His military talents were of a high order, and he 
could lead his armed hosts to battle and direct their 
movements with the skill of a great commander. 
His talents for political intrigue were consummate 
and unrivaled ; being the most crafty, skillful and 
far-reaching tactician in the country. As a con- 
queror, as a legislator, and as a ruler, Burr could 
boast no inconsiderable resemblance in the universal- 
ity and extent of his talents, to J^apoleon Bonaparte, 



264 J-IFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Burr's first object was the invasion of Mexico. A 
large part of his materials for this expedition he 
expected to obtain in the South- Western States and 
Territories. He found however that the attachment 
of the people there to the Union, could not be moved ; 
and consequently he prepared to march first to Mex- 
ico, and achieve his first triumphs there. By this 
time the American government had obtained satisfac- 
tory information of the culpable nature of his move- 
ments; if not that they were treasonable, at least 
that they were illegal, as being of a warlike nature 
against a country with which the United States were 
then at peace. General Wilkinson was ordered im- 
mediately to proceed to [N'ew Orleans, and to take 
every possible means to defeat the expedition. On 
the SYth of November, Mr. Jefferson issued a proc- 
lamation cautioning all citizens against joining the 
enterprise ; and orders were then issued to the United 
States troops, stationed at different points along the 
Ohio and Mississippi, to seize the boats and stores, 
and arrest the members of the expedition. 

On the 16th of January Mr. Kandolph moved in 
Congress that the President be called on to impart 
such information respecting Burr's movements as 
might then be in the possession of the government. 
On the 22d of that month the call of the resolution 
was complied with. He stated in substance that in- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 265 

formation had been received that some boats filled 
with adventurers, perhaps three or four hundred in 
number, had passed the Falls of the Ohio for the pur- 
pose of meeting the rendezvous appointed at the 
mouth of Cumberland River; that Burr himself had 
descended the Cumberland on the 22d of December 
with two boats; that General Wilkinson had made 
ample preparations to defend l^ew Orleans, and that 
orders had been issued for the arrest of the chief con- 
spirator. 

In accordance with these orders, Dr. Bolman and 
Mr. Swartwout, two of Burr's principal aids, were 
arrested at E"ew Orleans. On the 31st of December 
Burr himself passed Fort Massac with ten boats. 
But as he approached New Orleans he found the 
preparations made by General Wilkinson so extensive 
and efficient that he discovered the utter futility of 
his plans. He then proceeded to the Tombigbee, hav- 
ing landed with a single companion on the banks of 
the Mississippi on the 13th of January. His ulti- 
mate destination was then unknown ; but he was de- 
tected and arrested by the emissaries of the govern- 
ment in February, 1807. He was immediately con- 
veyed on horseback to Richmond, Virginia, to be 
tried by the Federal court, held by Chief Justice 
Marshall, assisted by Justice Griffin. 

Burr reached Richmond on the 26th of March. 



266 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

The court admitted him to bail in the sum of ten 
thousand dollars, which was immediately entered for 
him by members of the Federal party. Mr. Hay 
prosecuted for the government, assisted by William 
Wirt. Able counsel represented the defendant, the 
chief of whom was the celebrated Luther Martin. 
It was on this memorable occasion that the stately, 
imposing, and resplendent eloquence of Wirt shone 
forth with unrivaled magnificence, in strains of 
power and pathos which will be admired, quoted, and 
read with rapture till the end of time. Even the 
stern and iron heart of Burr himself trembled, and 
his eagle eye quailed beneath the overwhelming tor- 
rent of scathing invective, argument, and declama- 
tion, with which that great orator and ornament of 
the American bar reviewed the events developed by 
his bold, ambitious, and desperate career. 

After a trial of three weeks, and prodigious exer- 
tions of counsel on both sides. Burr was acquitted, 
on the grounds that the offense, if any, had not been 
committed within the jurisdiction of the court. It 
was Mr. Jefferson's purpose to commence a second 
prosecution, in which the plea to the jurisdiction 
should be evaded and the charges tried entirely on the 
merits; but the purpose was afterward abandoned. 
Burr immediately sailed for England, where it was 
supposed he designed to obtain means for the purpose 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 267 

of carrying on his ambitious plans more successfully. 
In this purpose he signally failed ; both in England 
and France he was reduced almost to the verge of 
starvation ; and he ultimately returned to 'New York, 
ruined and disgraced.* 

The chief charge against Burr in his trial was that 
of treason against the United States. That Mr. Jef- 
ferson himself did not believe in the justice of this 
charge at the time it was made, is evident from the 
following letter to Mr. Bowdoin, dated April 2d, 
1807: 

" No better proof of the good faith of the United 
States could have been given, than the vigor with 
which we have acted, and the expense incurred, in 
suppressing the enterprise meditated lately by Burr, 
against Mexico. Although at first he proposed a 
separation of the western country, and on that ground 
received encouragement and aid from Yrujo, ac- 
cording to the usual spirit of his government toward 

* Not the least mischievous act of Aaron Burr was the 
killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Hamilton was not 
only the means of defeating Burr for the presidency in 1800, 
but four years later he helped to secure his defeat when the 
latter was candidate for governor of New York. Burr clial- 
leng3d Hamilton to the duel. Though Hamilton disapproved 
the practice of duelling, still, in consideration of the public 
opinion of that day, he thought it unwise to decline. The 
encounter took place at the foot of the palisades, opposite 
New York city, July 12, 1804, and Hamilton was mortally 
wounded. 



268 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

US, yet he very early saw that the fidelity of the wes- 
tern country was not to be shaken, and turned him- 
self wholly k)ward Mexico. And so popular is an 
enterprise on that country, in this, that we had only 
to lie still, and he would have had followers enough 
to have been in the city of Mexico in six Aveeks." 

Mr. Jefferson evidently hated Burr personally, for 
in a letter to Mr. Hay, the prosecuting officer, he 
terms him "an impudent, Federal bull-dog." Jef- 
ferson also became highly incensed against Chief Jus- 
tice Marshall, whom he falsely and basely charged 
with endeavoring to protect and shield the defendant. 

The effects of the Berlin and Milan Decrees * of 
]Srapoleon, and of the Orders in Council on the part of 
England, now began to be felt as serious aggressions 
on the commerce and revenue of the United States. 
The licentious and preposterous doctrines of blockade 
proclaimed by France, and the retaliation of so mon- 
strous a violation of the laws of nations by England, 

* The Berlin Decrees were promulgated from Berlin by 
Napoleon in November, 1806. By these he prohibited com- 
merce and correspondence with Great Britain and declared 
that country to be in a state of blockade ; he also declared all 
English property to be forfeited and all Englishmen who were 
in any country occupied by French troops to be prisoners of 
war. 

The Milan Decrees, issued at Milan, Italy, December 17, 
1807, declared the forfeiture of all vessels bound to or from 
British ports, and of all which paid duties or licenses to Great 
Britain or had submitted to search by British cruisers. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 269 

soon inflicted the most fatal wounds upon neutral 
commerce, insulting and degrading to the national 
character, at the same time that it cut up its re- 
sources, plundered its wealth, and mutilated its ma- 
rine. Impressment was added to robbery and confis- 
cation, our flag being unable to protect the persons of 
our citizens from the power of insolent England, or 
secure their property from the rapacity of libertine 
France. Unhappily for this country and its national 
character, the feuds engendered by the collisions be- 
tween those two countries among our citizens, during 
the French revolution, had enlisted the Democratic 
and Federal parties under the banners of the two 
European belligerents. It was known that Mr. Jef- 
ferson was partial to France and hated England ; and 
as he always preferred peace to war, a disposition to 
negotiate for a redress of wrongs of this heinous char- 
acter, was construed by some into a pusillanimous 
submission to the despotism of* France; and by the 
adverse party, into a degrading acquiescence in the 
wrongs of England. The Democrats called for a war 
with Great Britain; the Federalists, and those who 
opposed French tyranny, demanded war against 
France. Mr. Jefferson desired peace, and disregard- 
ing the clamors of both, proceeded to negotiation. 
In a letter to Lafayette in 1807, he thus pictures our 
distressful and embarrassing situation : — '^ I enclose 



270 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

you a proclamation, which will show jou the critical 
footing on which we stand at present with England. 
leaver since the battle of Lexington, have I seen this 
country in such a state of exasperation as at present. 
And even that did not produce such unanimity. The 
Federalists themselves coalesce with us as to the ob- 
ject, although they will return to their old trade of 
condemning every step we take toward obtaining it. 
^ Reparation for the past, and security for the fu- 
ture,' is our motto. Whether these will be yielded 
freely, or will require resort to non-intercourse, or to 
war, is yet to be seen. We have actually near two 
thousand men in the field, covering the exposed parts 
of the coast, and cutting off supplies from the British 
vessels." 

The attack made on the frigate Chesapeake by the 
British admiral, and the Order of the British Council 
prohibiting all commerce between America and the 
ports of her enemies in Europe, unless their cargoes 
w^ere first landed in England and duties there paid on 
re-exportation, which threatened the total ruin of 
American commerce, induced Mr. Jefferson to recom- 
mend an embargo law. This law was passed by Con- 
gress on the 22d of December, 1807. 

This was the last important act of Mr. Jefferson's 
political life. His administration was now drawing 
to a close, after forty years of public service, and 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 271 

twenty of party turmoil. He had now attained the 
age of sixty-five, and if the enjoyment of power had 
not produced satiety, the charms of retirement must 
at least have promised the delight of novelty. His 
annual message to Congress this year, 1808, spoke 
of this event in a strain of unaffected modesty, dig- 
nified feeling, and patriotic eloquence, every way 
creditable to his head and heart. " Availing myself 
of this, the last occasion which will occur of address- 
ing the two houses of the legislature at their meet- 
ing, I cannot omit the expression of my sincere grati- 
tude for the repeated proofs of confidence manifested 
to me by themselves and their predecessors, since my 
call to the administration, and the many indulgences 
experienced at their hands. The same grateful ac- 
knowledgments are due to my fellow-citizens gen- 
erally, whose support has been my great encourage- 
ment under all embarrassments. In the transaction 
of their business I cannot have escaped error — it is 
incident to our imperfect nature. But I may say 
with truth my errors have been of the understanding, 
not of intention, and that the advancement of their 
rights and interests has been the constant motive for 
every measure. On these considerations I solicit 
their indulgence. Looking forward with anxiety to 
their future destinies, I trust, that in their steady 
character, unshaken by difficulties, in their love of 



272 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

liberty, obedience to law, and support of public au- 
thorities, I see a sure guarantee of the permanence of 
our republic; and retiring from the charge of their 
affairs, I carry with me the consolation of a firm per- 
suasion, that Heaven has in store for our beloved 
country, long ages to come of prosperity and hap- 
piness." 

It was on the Yth of November that Mr. Jefferson 
sent in to Congress his last annual address, contain- 
ing: manv items of interest connected with the state of 
the country, and the past measures of his administra- 
tion. Among other statements he informs them that 
the yearly receipts of the Treasury were then eighteen 
millions of dollars; that two millions and a half of 
the national debt had been discharged; and that 
nearly fourteen millions remained as surplus in the 
treasury. During the six years preceding, thirty 
millions of the national debt had been liquidated. 

At the general election in October, James Madi- 
son had been chosen as the successor of Mr. Jeffer- 
son. At the expiration of the term of the latter, he 
received addresses of esteem and respect from the 
legislatures of Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, Georgia, New York and Virginia. The 
address of the legislature of Virginia proceeded from 
the polished pen of William Wirt; and was couched 
in the following language : 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 2Y3 

" Sir : The General Assembly of vour native 
State cannot close their session without acknowl- 
edging your services in the office which you are just 
about to lay down, and bidding you a respectful and 
affectionate farewell. 

^' We have to thank you for the model of an admin- 
istration conducted on the purest principles of re- 
publicanism ; for pomp and state laid aside ; patron- 
age discarded ; internal taxes abolished ; a host of su- 
perfluous officers disbanded; the monarchic maxim 
that ^ a national debt is a national blessing/ re- 
nounced, and more than thirty-three millions of our 
debt discharged; the native right to near one hun- 
dred millions of acres of our national domain extin- 
guished; and without the guilt or calamities of con- 
quest, a vast and fertile region added to our country, 
far more extensive than her original possessions, 
bringing along with it the Mississippi and the port of 
Orleans, the trade of the West to the Pacific Ocean, 
and in the intrinsic value of the land itself, a source 
of permanent and almost inexhaustible revenue. 
These are points in your administration which the 
historian will not fail to seize, to expand, and to teach 
posterity to dwell upon with delight. JSTor will he 
forget our peace with the civilized world, preserved 
through a season of uncommon difficulty and trial; 
the good-will cultivated with the unfortunate aborig- 
i8 



274 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ines of our country, and the civilization humanely ex- 
tended among them ; the lesson taught the inhabitants 
of the coast of Barbary, that we have the means of 
chastising their piratical encroachments, and awing 
them into justice; and that theme, which, above all 
others, the historic genius will hang upon with rap- 
ture, the liberty of speech and the press preserved in- 
violate, without which genius and science are given to 
man in vain. 

^^ In the principles on which you have adminis- 
tered the government, we see only the continuation 
and the maturity of the same virtues and abilities 
which drew upon you in your youth the resentment of 
Dunmore. From the first brilliant and happy mo- 
ment of your resistance to foreign tyranny until the 
present day, we mark with pleasure and with grati- 
tude the same uniform and consistent character — the 
same warm and devoted attachment to liberty and 
the republic, the same Roman love of your country, 
her rights, her peace, her honor, her prosperity. 

" How blessed will be the retirement into which 
you are about to go ! How deservedly blessed will it 
be! For you carry with you the richest of all re- 
Avards, the recollection of a life well spent in the ser- 
vice of your country, and proofs the most decisive of 
the love, the gratitude, the veneration of your coun- 
trymen. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 275 

" That your retirement may be as happy as your 
life has been virtuous and useful ; that our youth may 
see, in the blissful close of your days, an additional 
inducement to form themselves on your model, is the 
devout and earnest prayer of your fellow-citizens 
who compose the General Assembly of Virginia." 

Mr. Jefferson's second term of office as President 
of the United States, terminated on March 4th, 1809. 
He remained to witness the inauguration of his suc- 
cessor, and sat on his right hand during the delivery 
of his address. Several days afterward he left 
Washington, and journeyed by slow and easy stages 
to Monticello, where he arrived in the middle of 
March. Thus after forty years of political turmoil, 
agitation and labor, this great statesman and politi- 
cian retired at last to the quiet and seclusion of pri- 
vate life. His feelings on this occasion may be in- 
ferred from the following letter to M. Dupont de 
Nemours, in Paris : 

" Within a few days I retire to my family, my 
books and farms ; and having gained the harbor my- 
self, I shall look on my friends still buffeting the 
storm, with anxiety, indeed, but not with envy. 
!N"ever did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel 
such a relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of 
power. ISTature intended me for the tranquil pur- 



276 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

suits of science, by rendering them my supreme de- 
light. But the enormities of the times in which I 
have lived, have forced me to take a part in resisting 
them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean 
of political passions. I thank God for the opportun- 
ity of retiring from them without censure, and carry- 
ing with me the most consoling proofs of public ap- 
probation." 

He gives the following account of his journey: — 

'"* I had a very fatiguing journey, having found the 
roads excessively bad, although I have seen them 
worse. The last three days I found it better to be on 
horseback, and traveled eight hours through as dis- 
agreeable a snow-storm as I ever was in. Feeling no 
inconvenience from the expedition but fatigue, I have 
more confidence in my vis vitce than I had before en- 
tertained. The spring is remarkably backward." 

Having been welcomed home by the citizens of his 
county, he addressed them in the following strain of 
attachment and affection : — 

'•" Returning to the scenes of my birth and early 
life, to the society of those with whom I was raised, 
and who have been ever dear to me, I receive, fellow- 
citizens and neighbors, with inexpressible pleasure, 
the cordial welcome you are so good as to give me. 
Long absent on duties which the history of a wonder- 
ful era made incumbent on those called to them, the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 277 

pomp, the turmoil, the bustle and splendor of office, 
have drawn but deeper sighs for the tranquil and ir- 
responsible occupations of private life, for the enjoy- 
ment of an affectionate intercourse with you, my 
neighbors and friends ; and the endearments of f am- 
ily love, which nature has given us all, as the sw^eet- 
ener of every hour. For these I gladly lay down the 
distressing burden of power, and seek, with my fel- 
low-citizens, repose and safety under the w^atchful 
cares, the labors and perplexities of younger and 
abler minds. The anxieties you express to adminis- 
ter to my happiness, do, of themselves, confer that 
happiness ; and the measure will be complete, if my 
endeavors to fulfill my duties in the several public 
stations to which I have been called, have obtained for 
me the approbation of my country. The part which 
I have acted on the theatre of public life, has been 
before them ; and to their sentence I submit it : but 
the testimony of my native country, of the individ- 
uals who have known me in private life, to my con- 
duct in its various duties and relations, is the more 
grateful, as proceeding from eye-witnesses and ob- 
servers — from triers of the vicinage. Of you, then, 
my neighbors, I may ask in the face of the world, 
' Whose ox have I taken, or whom have I defrauded ? 
Whom have I oppressed, or of whose hand have I re- 



278 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ceived a bribe to blind mine eyes therewith ? ' * On 
your verdict I rest with conscious security. Your 
wishes for my happiness are received with just sen- 
sibility, and I offer sincere prayers for your own wel- 
fare and prosperity." 

* From the farewell address of Samuel to the Israelites. 
See I Samuel xii : 3. 



\ 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Mr. Jefferson's Habits of Life in his Retirement — Incidents of 
his Residence at Monticello— The Mecklenburg Declaration 
of Independence — Mr. Jefferson's Pecuniary Difficulties — 
The Plan of a Lottery— Public Contributions to his Relief 
— His Last Sickness — His Death — Estimate of his Char- 
acter—His Religious Opinions — Defects of his Character 
— His want of Sincerity and Truthfulness — His False 
Charges against Mr. Hamilton — Evidence of their False- 
hood — His Secret Opposition to the Federal Constitution 
— Novel and Absurd Grounds of his Opposition— Chief 
Difference between Jefferson and Hamilton — Conclusion. 

Mr. Jefferson was sixty-six years of age when he 
retired, for the last time, from public life to the 
quietude and seclusion of his estate at Monticello. 
His property consisted of nearly seven thousand acres 
of land, and was worked by a hundred and thirteen 
slaves. He also possessed four thousand acres at 
Poplar Forest, on which there were eighty-five slaves. 
But although he was a large landed proprietor, his 
estates were not very productive; and the profuse 
hospitality which during many years he exercised at 
Monticello, very perceptibly diminished his resources 
from year to year. He had also a passion for build- 

279 



280 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ing; and being deprived of the income which for 
eight years he had been in the habit of receiving as 
President, he gradually became involved in pecuniary 
difficulties. He thus describes his avocations in a 
letter of this date, to his illustrious friend Kosciusko: 
" In the bosom of my family, and surrounded by 
my books, I enjoy a repose to which I have been 
long a stranger. My mornings are devoted to cor- 
respondence. From breakfast to dinner I am in my 
shops, my garden, or on horseback among my farms ; 
from dinner to dark I give to society and recreation 
with my neighbors and friends; and from candle 
light to early bedtime I read. My health is perfect, 
and my strength considerably reinforced by the ac- 
tivity of the course I pursue; perhaps it is as great 
as usually falls to the lot of near sixty-seven years of 
age. I talk of plows and harrows, seeding and har- 
vesting, with my neighbors, and of politics, too, if 
they choose, with as little reserve as the rest of my 
fellow-citizens, and feel at length the blessing of be- 
ing free to say and do what I please, without being 
responsible for it to any mortal. A part of my oc- 
cupation, and by no means the least pleasing, is the 
direction of the studies of such young men as ask it. 
They place themselves in the neighboring village, 
have the use of my library and counsel, and make a 
part of my society. In advising the course of their 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 281 

reading, I endeavor to keep their attention fixed on 
the main objects of all science, the freedom and hap- 
piness of man." He concludes by advertising to his 
pecuniary difficulties, and says he has to pass such a 
length of time in a thraldom x)f mind never before 
known to him. " But for this," he says, " his hap- 
piness would have been perfect." Among those who 
thus profited by his counsels in the way spoken of, 
were Mr. Rives, the late Minister to France, and 
Ftancis W. Gilmer, late Professor of Law in the 
University of Virginia. 

His workshops were those of carpenters, black- 
smiths, wheelwrights and nailsmiths. Mr. Jefferson 
was fond of exercising himself in mechanical em- 
ployments. He had a small apartment adjoining his 
bed-room, in which there was a complete assortment 
of tools, in the use of which he had acquired much 
practical skill, and which at once enabled him to take 
exercise within doors, to find an agreeable relaxation 
for his mind, to repair any of his various instruments 
in physical science, and to execute any little scheme 
of the moment in the way of furniture or experiment. 
He had many very respectable workmen among his 
slaves, whose expertness had been greatly improved, 
both by his instructions and the diversified occupa- 
tion which he afforded them. The carriage in which 
he ordinarily rode, his garden-seats, even some of his 



283 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

household furniture, were the joint work of himself 
and his slaves. His favorite exercise^ however, was 
riding on horseback, and he never was unprovided 
with handsome horses. It was the only thing in 
which he was lavish of money for his exclusive grati- 
fication ; and the four which he purchased for his car- 
riage when he was elected President, cost him two 
thousand dollars. 

Thus year after year of the retirement of this cele- 
brated man glided quietly away ; yet occasionally di- 
versified by pleasing and novel incidents. One of 
these was the correspondence which took place be- 
tween Mr. Jeiferson and Mr. John Adams. Another 
was the epistolary intercourse which occurred be- 
tween him and the illustrious Madame de Stael. 
His correspondence with Mr. Adams elicited new and 
strange information in reference to the Mecklenburg 
Declaration of Independence, from which it has been 
charged that Mr. Jefferson derived the chief ideas of 
his own draft of the American Declaration. This 
subject has been fiercely contested on both sides. The 
coincidences of expression between these two docu- 
ments are so remarkable as to justify the full con- 
viction, that the one was in a great measure derived 
from the other. That the reader may judge for him- 
self on this subject, we here insert this rare and in- 



UFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 283 

teresting document, as well as Mr. Adams' letter to 
Mr. Jefferson on the subject: 

^' Quincy, 22d of June, 1819. 

" Dear Sir : May I enclose you one of the great- 
est curiosities, and one of the deepest mysteries that 
ever occurred to me; it is in the Essex Register of 
June the 5th, 1819. It is entitled, from the Raleigh 
Register^ ' Declaration of Independence.' How is it 
possible that this paper should have been concealed 
from me to this day ! Had it been communicated to 
nie in the time of it, I know, if you do not know, that 
it would have been printed in every whig newspaper 
upon the continent. You know that if I had pos- 
sessed it, I would have made the Hall of Congress 
echo and re-echo with it fifteen months before your 
Declaration of Independence. What a poor, ignor- 
ant, malicious, short-sighted, crapulous mass is Tom 
Paine's Common Sense in comparison with this pa- 
per. Had I known it, I would have commented upon 
it from the day you entered Congress till the fourth 
of July, 1776. 

^^ The genuine sense of America at that moment 
was never so well expressed before or since. Richard 
Caswell, William Hooper, and Joseph Hughes, the 
then representatives of Xorth Carolina in Congress, 
you know as well as I; and you know that the 



28i LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

unanimity of the States finally depended on the vote 
of Joseph Hewes, and was finally determined by him ; 
and yet history is to ascribe the American Revolution 
to Thomas Paine. Sat verbum sapienti. 
" I am, dear sir, your invariable friend," &x. 

The Mecklenburg Declaration is as follows: 

^' May 20th, 1775. That whoever directly or in- 
directly abets, or in any way, form, or manner, coun- 
tenances the unchartered and dangerous invasion of 
our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy 
to this country, to America, and to the inherent and 
imdeniable rights of man. 

" That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do 
hereby dissolve the political hands ivliich have con- 
nected us ivith the mother country, and hereby ab- 
solve ourselves from all allegiance to the British 
croiun, and abjure all political connection, contact or 
association with that nation, who have wantonly 
trampled on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly 
shed the blood of American patriots at Lexington. 

^' That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and 
independent people; are, and of right out to he, a 
sovereign and self-governing association, under the 
control of no power, other than that of our God, and 
the general government of Congress; to the mainte- 
nance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 285 

each other, our mutual co-operation, our lives, our 
fortunes, and our most sacred honor, 

" That as we acknowledge the existence and con- 
trol of no law nor legal officer, civil or military, 
within this county, we do hereby ordain and adopt as 
a rule of life, all, each, and every of our former laws ; 
wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Britain 
never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, 
immunities, or authority therein. 

" That it is further decreed, that all, each, and 
every military officer in this county, is hereby rein- 
stated in his former command and authority, he act- 
ing conformably to the regulations. And that every 
member present of this delegation shall henceforth 
be a civil officer, viz. a justice of the peace, in the 
character of a committee man, to issue j)rocess, hear, 
and determine all matters of controversv, according: to 
said adopted laws ; and to preserve peace, union, and 
harmony in said county, and to use every exertion to 
spread the love of country and fire of freedom 
throughout America, until a more general and or- 
ganized government be established in this province." 

Another agreeable incident connected with these 
retired and unobtrusive years of Mr. Jefferson^s life, 
was the visit which he received from General Lafay- 
ette, when making his tour through the United States. 
There was the utmost cordiality between them while 



286 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

together; yet Mr. Jefferson, with his prevalent du- 
plicity, speaks in a letter to Mr. Madison of Lafay- 
ette's '^ 'canine thirst for popularity.^^ How much 
real esteem and regard Mr. Jefferson could have en- 
tertained for a person of whom he speaks in such 
terms, it is not difficult to determine. 

In 1824 Mr. Jefferson began to see his wishes and 
labors in reference to the University of Virginia ap- 
jDroaching a successful termination. The buildings 
were very near their completion, and an able corps of 
professors had been procured. Mr. Jefferson was 
chosen President of the Board of Trustees, and he 
aided the new Institution with generous gifts of 
books, money, services and influence. He framed 
the laws for the government of the University. 
These laws he made entirely too democratic; and 
the consequence was that the students soon proved 
themselves utterly unfit for self-government, and 
their insubordination brought the institution to the 
verge of ruin. Severe measures became necessary, 
and the ringleaders were expelled by the faculty, 
among whom was one of Mr. Jefferson's own neph- 
ews. The necessary amendments to the constitution 
and laws of the University were made ; and subse- 
quently greater rigor secured greater order and pro- 
priety of behavior. 

The last event in the life of Mr. Jefferson which 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 287 

attracted public attention was one of a painful and 
distressing nature. Together with the failure of his 
health, and his sufferings from a chronic disease of 
the bladder, his pecuniary difficulties had been in- 
creasing for many years. His vast tracts of land had 
long been expensive and comparatively unprofitable. 
His debts had largely increased. He had been re- 
lieved, immediately after his retirement from the 
Presidency, by a loan of ten thousand dollars secured 
on his property. He realized in his experience the 
evils which attended the employment of overseers and 
slaves. The proceeds of his estates rarely covered the 
expenses. He was also so imprudent and imfor- 
tunate as to endorse for his friend, Governor ISTicho- 
las, to the amount of twenty thousand dollars; and 
for this sum, by the insolvency of Mr. Nicholas, he 
became responsible. 

In order to relieve his pressing pecuniary difficul- 
ties, a plan was devised by his friends to obtain an 
act of the Legislature of Virginia, authorizing the 
disposal of a part of his property by lottery. He 
himself prepared a petition to that effect, to be pre- 
sented to that body. The legislature acquiesced, and 
passed the act ; but the enemies of Mr. Jefferson em- 
braced the opportunity to utter the most severe and 
sarcastic strictures upon him. He thus writes to 



288 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Mr. Madison in reference to the subject in February, 
1826. 

" You will have seen in the newspapers some pro- 
ceedings in the legislature, which have cost me much 
mortification. My own debts had become consider- 
able, but not beyond the effect of some lopping off of 
property, which would have been little felt, when our 
friend IN^icholas gave me the cowp de grace. Ever 
since that, I have been paying twelve hundred dollars 
a year interest on his debt, which, with my own, was 
absorbing so much of my annual income, as that the 
maintenance of my family was making deep and 
rapid inroads on my capital, and had already done it. 
Still, sales at a fair price, would leave me compe- 
tently provided. Had crops and prices, for several 
years, been such as to maintain a steady competition 
of substantial bidders at market, all would have been 
safe. But the long succession of years of stunted 
crops, of reduced prices, the general prostration of 
the farming business, under levies for the support of 
manufacturers, &c., with the calamitous fluctuations 
of value in our paper medium, have kept agriculture 
in a state of abject depression, which has peopled 
the western States by silently breaking up those on 
the Atlantic, and glutted the land market, while it 
drew off its bidders. In such a state of things, prop- 
erty has lost its character of being a resource for 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 289 

debts. High lands in Bedford, wliich, in the days of 
our plethorj, sold readily for from fifty to one hun- 
dred dollars the acre, (and such sales were many 
then,) would not now sell for more than from ten to 
twenty dollars, or one quarter or one fifth of its for- 
mer price. Keflecting on these things, the practice 
occurred to me of selling, on fair valuation, and by 
way of lottery, often resorted to before the Revolu- 
tion, to eifect large sales, and still in constant usage 
in every State, for individual as well as corporation 
purposes. If it is permitted in my case, my lands 
here alone, with the mills, &c., will pay every thing, 
and leave me Monticello and a farm free. If re- 
fused, I must sell every thing here, perhaps con- 
siderably in Bedford, move thither with my family, 
where I have not even a log-hut to put my head into, 
and whether ground for burial will depend on the 
depredations which, under the form of sales, shall 
have been committed on my property. The ques- 
tion then with me was, ultrum liorimi? " * 

In conclusion he makes the following pathetic ap- 
peal: 

" But why afilict you with these details ? Indeed, 
I cannot tell, unless pains are lessened by communi- 
cation with a friend. The friendship which has sub- 
sisted between us, now half a century, and the har- 
» Which of these two things shall I do ? 

19 



290 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

monj of our political principles and pursuits, have 
been sources of constant happiness to me through that 
long period. And if I remove beyond the reach of 
attention to the university, or beyond the bourne of 
life itself, as I soon must, it is a comfort to leave that 
institution under your care, and an assurance that it 
will not be wanting. It has also been a great solace 
to me, to believe that you are engaged in vindicating 
to posterity the course we have pursued for preserv- 
ing to them, in all their purity, the blessings of self- 
government, which he had assisted, too, in acquiring 
for them. If ever the earth has beheld a system of 
administration conducted with a single and stead- 
fast eye to the general interest and happiness of those 
committed to it, one which, protected by truth, can 
never know reproach, it is that to which our lives have 
been devoted. To myself you have been a pillar of 
support through life. Take care of me when dead, 
and be assured that I shall leave with you my last 
affections." 

Mr. Jefferson's Memorial to the Legislature at- 
tracted public attention to his difficulties, and various 
plans were suggested for liis relief. It was thought 
desirable by his friends that his property and his 
mansion, to which he had given celebrity, should re- 
main in his possession ; and to secure this end it was 
proposed to suspend the proceedings in relation to the 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 291 

lottery, and commence a subscription throughout the 
United States, for the purpose of collecting a hun- 
dred thousand dollars — the sum which his exigencies 
demanded, l^earlj nine thousand were raised in 
New York, five thousand in Philadelphia, three thou- 
sand in Baltimore, and smaller sums elsewhere 
throughout the country. The whole amounted to 
eighteen thousand dollars; but the progress of the 
contributions was stopped by Mr. Jefferson's last ill- 
ness and death. 

During the month of June, 1826, he suffered se- 
verely from an attack of dysentery, which became 
worse from day to day. On the first of July he was 
confined to his bed. He was attended by Dr. Dun- 
glison, who felt convinced that the attack would 
prove fatal. During his last illness, a visitor was 
announced. Mr. Jefferson supposed that it was a 
clergyman of Charlottesville, Mr. Hatch, whose name 
had been mentioned. Under this impression, Mr. 
Jefferson said : " Is that Mr. Hatch ? He is a very 
good man, and I am glad to see him as a neighbor, 
but not as a clergyman.'^ In truth, Mr. Jefferson de- 
clined all religious sympathy during his last hours, 
having long previously made up his mind in ref- 
erence to those subjects, and not desiring his views in 
the midst of feebleness and suffering to be assailed 
and disturbed. 



or)o LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

On the 3d of July, he continued to sink. Xear 
the middle of the night he asked the hour; and on 
being told that it was near one o'clock, he expressed 
his joy. The spirit of the aged statesman yearned to 
survive, to see once more the anniversary of that glo- 
rious day, in whose immortal incidents, just half a 
century before, he himself had played so important 
and so honorable a part. At last about two o'clock on 
the morning of the fourth of July, while millions of 
freemen were exulting in the dawn of that welcome 
anniversary, the spirit of Thomas Jefferson quietly 
and calmly burst the bands which bound it to its 
earthly tenement, and sped away to other spheres. 
On the same day one of his most illustrious asso- 
ciates, rivals, and friends, paid the same great debt 
to nature, in a distant commonwealth. John Adams 
and Thomas Jetferson, both signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and both Ex-Presidents of the 
United States, expired on the 4th of July, 1S26. 
Mr. Jefferson was eighty-three years of age. 

Mr. Jefferson's funeral was simple and unostenta- 
tious. It took place on the afternoon of the day 
after his death. His remains were deposited in a 
small grave-yard on the side of the mountain at Mon- 
ticello. A granite obelisk, eight feet high, marks the 
last-resting place of this celebrated man ; and on it 
are inscribed the followins; words, which were found. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 293 

in his ow-n hand-writing, among his papers, and des- 
ignated by himself as designated for his tomb : 



HERE LIES BUEIED 

THOMAS JEFFERSO:Nr. 

AUTHOE OF THE DECLAEATIOX OF INDEPENDENCE, 

OF THE STATUTE OF VIEGINIA FOE EELIGIOUS FEEE- 

DOM, AND FATHEE OF THE UNIVEESITY OF VIEGINIA. 

The character and merits of Mr. Jefferson have 
long been the subject of violent controversy. By his 
admirers he has been elevated to the highest eminence 
in hiiman virtue, while his opponents have gone to 
an equally absurd extreme. The truth is, that his 
character possessed many great merits and some great 
defects. lie was, unquestionably, a man of a large, 
powerful, and capacious intellect. His views on 
every subject were marked by depth, sagacity, and 
originality. As a lawyer he was learned and acute. 
As a writer he was clear, strong, and convincing. 
He possessed little imagination, and little love or ap- 
preciation of the beautiful. He was very adroit in 
the management of men and parties. This is evinced 
by the success with which he attained all the various 
offices in the gift of the people. He began with the 
lowest, and ascended to the highest. First, he was a 
Justice of the Peace, then a Member of the Legisla- 



294 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

ture, then Speaker of the House, then Governor of 
the State, then member of the Continental Congress, 
then Minister to France, then Secretary of State, then 
Vice-President, then President; and was then even 
re-elected, in spite of his own frequent protestations 
against the unrepublican tendency of long tenures of 
office. Mr. Jefferson was in truth the prince of 
American politicians, both in respect to the skill with 
which he managed party politics and party forces, 
and with respect to the success which attended his 
ambitious labors. 

His services to his country, as long as they apper- 
tained to the establishment of her liberties and the 
formation of her government, were of the first order. 
As the author of the Declaration of Independence his 
name will live forever, and be associated with the 
brightest and noblest page of American history. His 
religious opinions and his views of Christianity will 
be best learned from his own language. Says he : 

" I have to thank you for your pamphlets on the 
subjects of Unitarianism, and to express my gratifi- 
cation with your efforts for the revival of primitive 
Christianity in your quarter. oSTo historical fact is 
better established than that the doctrine of one God, 
pure and uncompounded, was that of the early ages 
of Christianity; and was among the efficacious doc- 
trines which gave it triumph over the Polytheism of 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 295 

the ancients, sickened with the absurdities of their 
own theology. Nor was the unity of the Supreme 
Being ousted from the Christian creed by the force of 
reason, but by the sword of civil government, wielded 
at the will of the fanatic Athanasius. The hocus- 
pocus phantasm of a God, like another Cerberus, with 
one body and three heads, had its birth and growth in 
the blood of thousands and thousands of martyrs. 
And a strong proof of the solidity of the primitive 
faith, is its restoration, as soon as a nation arises 
which vindicates to itself the freedom of religious 
opinion, and its external divorce from the civil au- 
thority. The pure and simple unity of the Creator 
of the universe is now all but ascendant in the East- 
ern States ; it is dawning in the West, and advancing 
toward the South ; and I confidently expect that the 
present generation w^ill see Unitarianism become the 
general religion of the United States. The Eastern 
presses are giving us many excellent pieces on the 
subject ; and Priestley's learned writings on it are, or 
should be, in every hand. In fact, the Athanasian 
paradox that one is three, and three but one, is so in- 
comprehensible to the human mind, that no candid 
man can say he has any idea of it ; and how can he be- 
lieve what presents no idea ? He who thinks he does, 
only deceives himself. He proves, also, that man 
once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard 



^96 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

against absurdities the most monstrous, and, like a 
ship without a rudder, is the sport of every wind. 
With such persons, gullability, which they call 
faith, takes the helm from the hand of reason, and 
the mind becomes a wreck." In another place he 
says : — '' The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend 
all to the happiness of man. 

" 1. That there is one only God, and he all per- 
fect. 

" 2. That there is a future state of rewards and 
punishments. 

" 3. That to love God Avith all thy heart, and thy 
neighbor as thyself is the sum of religion. These are 
the great points on which he endeavored to reform the 
religion of the Jews." He then compares these with 
the doctrines of Calvin, and adds : " ISTow, which of 
these is the true and charitable Christian ? He who 
believes and acts on the simple doctrines of Jesus, or 
the impious dogmatists, as Athanasius and Calvin? 
Verily, I say these are the false shepherds foretold us 
to enter not by the door into the sheepfold, but to 
climb up some other way. They are mere usurpers 
of the Christian name, teaching a counter religion 
made up of the deleria of crazy imaginations, as for- 
eign from Christianity as is that of Mahomet. Their 
blasphemies have driven thinking men into infidelity, 
who have too hastily rejected the supposed author 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 297 

himself, with the horrors so falsely imputed him. 
Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached always as 
pure as they came from his lips, the whole civilized 
world would now have been Christians. I rejoice 
that in this blessed country of free inquiry and be- 
lief, which has surrendered its creed and conscience 
to neither kings nor priests, the genuine doctrine of 
one only God is reviving, and I trust that there is not 
a young man now living in the United States who 
will not die a Unitarian.'' 

The chief defect in the character of Mr. Jefferson, 
was his want of sincerity and truthfulness. This 
charge may be substantiated by many unanswerable 
proofs. Thus for instance he proclaimed himself 
the advocate of popular rights ; he defended the dig- 
nity, purity, and honesty of the masses; and pre- 
tended that they were more worthy of confidence, and 
were safer depositaries of power, than the higher and 
more exclusive ranks. Yet in spite of these declara- 
tions, Mr. Jefferson was in reality the most aristo- 
cratic of men. In his heart he despised the multi- 
tude ; he placed no confidence in their judgment ; and 
held both them and their character in contempt. As 
an evidence of this we may adduce the following ex- 
tract from a letter addressed to one of his most in- 
timate friends : 

" The Political Progress is a work of value, and of 



298 JLIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

a singular complexion. The author's eye seems to be 
a natural achromatic, divesting every object of the 
glare of color. The former work of the same title 
possessed the same kind of merit. They disgust one, 
indeed, by opening to his view the ulcerated state of 
the human mind. But to cure an ulcer, you must go 
to the bottom of it, which no author does more radi- 
cally than this. The reflections into which it leads 
us are not very flattering to the human species. In 
the whole animal kingdom, I recollect no family but 
man, steadily and systematically employed in the de- 
struction of itself. !N"or does what is called civiliza- 
tion produce any other effect than to teach him to 
pursue the principle of the helium omnhim in omnia, 
on a greater scale, and, instead of the little contests 
between tribe and tribe, to comprehend all the quar- 
ters of the earth in the same work of destruction. 
If to this we add, that as to other animals, the lions 
and tigers are mere lambs compared with man as a 
destroyer, we must conclude that ISTature has been 
able to find in man alone a sufiicient barrier against 
the too great multiplication of other animals, and of 
man himself, an equilibrating power against the fe- 
cundity of generation. While in making these obser- 
vations, my situation points my attention to the wel- 
fare of man in the physical world, yours may perhaps 
present him as equally warring in the moral one." 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 299 

The utter inconsistency of these sentiments with 
those more publicly professed by the great apostle of 
popular infallibility, justice, and humanity, will 
clearly appear to every impartial reader. 

But it was when the personal feelings of Mr. Jef- 
ferson were enlisted against any of his associates 
and rivals, that his statements in reference to them, 
their character and measures were the most unfair 
and untrue. There are many instances of these 
mistatements in existence, which clearly prove that, 
from the nature of the case, he must have been fully 
aware of the falsity of his assertions. Perhaps the 
most remarkable examples of this description are to 
be found in his declarations against the man whom of 
all others he most sincerely hated, and whom he most 
bitterly reviled. This was Alexander Hamilton, the 
illustrious and powerful head of the Federal party. 

Thus Mr. Jefferson asserted in the most distinct 
and authoritative manner, without adducing any 
proof whatever of the truth of the charge, that Ham- 
ilton considered a public debt as a public blessing; 
and in a letter to Gen. Washington, dated 9th Sep- 
tember, 1792, (" Writings of Washington," by 
Sparks, Vol. x., p. 17, Appendix,) he says: "My 
whole correspondence while in France, and every 
word, and letter, and act on the subject since my re- 
turn, prove that no man is more ardently intent to 



300 LIFE OF THpMAS JEFFERSON. 

see the public debt soon and sacredly paid off than I 
am. This exactly marks the difference between Col- 
onel Hamilton's views and mine, that I wish the debt 
paid off to-morrow ; he ivishes it never to he paid, hut 
always to he a thing whereivith to corrupt and man- 
age the legislature." 

Here is a distinct and positive charge of the most 
serious character; and it is to be regretted that such 
is the propensity of mankind to believe injurious im- 
putations without asking for their proof, that it is 
very gerrerally believed and very frequently alleged, 
even until this day. The evidence that this charge 
was wholly unfounded, and that Mr. Jefferson knew 
it to be so when he made it, is as follows : Mr. Ham- 
ilton, in his '^ Keport on Public Credit," dated Jan- 
uary 9, 1790, (Vol. 3, '' Hamilton's Works," p. 40,) 
proposes that '^ reserving out of the residue of those 
duties, &c., the surplus, together with the product of 
other duties, be applied to the payment of the interest 
on the new loan by an appropriation co-extensive with 
the duration of the debt." On page 41 he says: 
" Persuaded as the Secretary is, that the proper fund- 
ing of the present debt will render it a public bless- 
ing, yet he is so far from acceding to the position in 
the latitude in which it is sometimes laid down, that 
' public debts are public blessings ' — a position in- 
viting to prodigality, and liable to dangerous abus^ 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 301 

that he ardently wishes to see it incorporated as a 
fundamental maxim in the system of public credit 
of the United States, that the creation of debt should 
always be accompanied v;ith the means of its extin- 
guishment. This he regards as the true secret of ren- 
dering public credit immortal." He then proceeds to 
propose that certain revenues " shall be appropriated 
to continue so vested until the whole debt shall be dis- 
charged." 

This Report, which was published and commented 
upon throughout the United States, must have been 
read by Mr. Jefferson ; and as it was long anterior to 
the date of the letter referred to, it may be safely as- 
serted that he knew such to be the principle of the 
measures of financial administration constantly rec- 
ommended by Hamilton. 

In further proof of the falsehood of this charge 
see " Hamilton's Report on Estimates," dated August 
5, 1790. It will be found there that he urges that 
a surphis in the treasury of one million should be 
applied to the payment of the public debts. In his 
Report on Manufactures, dated December 5, 1791, 
he says : " And as the vicissitudes of nations beget a 
perpetual tendency to the accumulation of debt, 
there ought to be, in every government, a perpetual, 
anxious, and unceasing effort to reduce that which 
at any time exists as fast as practicable, consistently 



302 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

with integrity and good faith." This most urgent 
admonition was published long before the date of Mr. 
Jefferson's letter.* 

Another evidence of the insincerity of Mr. Jeffer- 
son was the fact that, while he pretended to approve 
of the Federal Constitution, he was in reality op- 
posed to it. Thus he writes in a letter to John 
Adams, November 18, 1787 : " How do you like our 
new Constitution ? I confess there are things in it, 
which stagger all my dispositions to subscribe to 
what such an assembly had proposed. * * * In- 
deed I think all the good in this new Constitution 
miirht have been couched in three or four new articles 
to be added to the good, old and venerable fabric, 
which should have been preserved, even as a religious 
relic.'^ 

And again he says to A. Donald, February 7th, 
1788 : " I wish with all my soul that the nine first 
conventions may accept the Constitution, because 
this will secure to us the good it contains, which I 
think great and important. But I equally wish that 
the four latest conventions, whichever they be, may 

* See Hamilton's " Report on the public debt," Dated No- 
vember 30, 1792. pp. 338, 339 ; and at p. 346, referring to the 
proceeds of the public debt, Hamilton says : " Whenever they 
can be brought into public use, their action will be important 
aid, materially celebrating the ultimate redemption of the 
entire debt," 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 303 

refuse to execute it, till a Declaration of Eights be 
annexed.'' The reason of this wish was because the 
first clause of Article Tth of the Constitution pro- 
vided that ''the ratification of the conventions of 
nine States shall be sufiicient for the establishment of 
this Constitution between the States so ratifying the 

sarne.^^ 

The whole number was thirteen. Jefferson wished 
that nine should ratify, and that five should refuse. 
This would have included ^N'ew York as refusing; 
and thus he proposed to postpone the Union, and run 
the risk of establishing separate confederacies ! 

Elsewhere in his private correspondence, Mr. Jef- 
ferson may be said to have objected to the Federal 
Constitution on another ground, and one in the high- 
est degree novel and singular. It was on the general 
principle asserted in a letter to James Madison, dated 
September 6, 1789, at Paris. '"' The question wheth- 
er one generation of men has a right to bind another, 
seems never to have been started either on this side or 
our side of the water. Yet it is a question of such 
consequence as not only to merit discussion, but 
place also among the fundamental principles of every 
o-overnment. The course of reflection in which we 
are immersed here, on the elementary principles of 
society, has presented this question to my mind, and 
that no such obligation can be transmitted, / thinh 
very capable of proof/' 



304 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Mr. Jefferson arrives at this conclusion : " That 
neither the representatives of a nation, nor the whole 
nation itself assembled, can validly engage debts be- 
yond what they may pay in their own time; that is 
to say within thirty-four years from the date of the 
engagement." 

He concludes his course of reasoning thus : " That 
no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even 
a perpetual law.'' Consequently all constitutions 
must be adopted or renewed every thirty-five years; 
and if not, it follows that the society goes into a state 
of anarchy and dissolution. These are the sober and 
deliberately expressed opinions of this wise and prac- 
tical statesman ! 

Additional proofs of the falsity of many of Mr. 
Jefferson's statements, in reference to his political 
and personal enemies, may be found in a work pub- 
lished in 1S32, by Henry Lee of Virginia, in which 
that writer clearly exposes the error of many of Mr. 
Jefferson's declarations in reference to Gen. Henry 
Lee, of the Kevolution, as contained in his published 
Memoirs, his Anas, and his correspondence. For the 
remarkable and unanswerable evidences, contained in 
that work, of the unfounded and calumnious asser- 
tions of Mr. Jefferson on many subjects, we refer the 
reader to its pages.* 

* See "Observations on the writings of Thomas Jefferson : 
^vith particular reference to the attack they contain on the 
Memory of the late General Henry Lee, by H. Lee, of Vir- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 305 

Yet nothing human is perfect ; and no inconsider- 
able excuse may be found for this error of Mr. Jef- 
ferson in the fact, that he was himself fiercely perse- 
cuted, slandered, and misrepresented by many of his 
personal and political opponents; and that his sever- 
est strictures were but retaliations on them of the 
wrongs and the injustice which he supposed them to 
have inflicted on himself. Whatever may be his rel- 
ative merit and demerit, it is certain that, as long as 
the American Union shall survive the shocks of time, 
and as it grows greater and more powerful, the name 
and the services of Thomas Jefferson will continue to 
live fresh and fadeless in the memories and the grati- 
tude of millions of prosperous and intelligent free- 
men ! 

The chief difference between the political opinions 
of Jefferson and Hamilton — the great Democrat and 
the great Federalist of American history — may be 
thus briefly stated : In establishing the form of gov- 
ernment, and in administering it, these statesmen 
were guided by principles as opposite as the poles. 
Hamilton preferred practice to* theory; that is, he 
thought it wiser to adopt those elements of the British 
government which, while they accorded with the 
spirit of true liberty, possessed the additional advan- 
tage of the prosperous and favorable experience of the 

ginia. New York. Published by Charles de Behr. 1832." 
See particularly pp. 41, 45, 51, 107, and 201, 
20 



306 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

past in their support. Mr. Jefferson, on the con- 
trary, discarded every thing which had appertained 
to European governments, and insisted on carrying 
out a full and independent theory of his own, which 
embodied his whole conception of what a free, popu- 
lar, and democratic government should be. Mr. Ham- 
ilton wished to leave room for future legislation, 
adapted to the developing w^ants and resources of the 
country. Mr. Jefferson insisted upon realizing at 
once and immediately his ideal of a free government, 
whether that ideal proved in itself practicable and 
beneficial or not. Mr. Hamilton looked partly to the 
past for guidance. Mr. Jefferson regarded all the 
past as wrong, as perversion, as injustice and outrage 
upon the rights of man, and looked only to the future. 
Hamilton was cautious of losing all by grasping too 
much. Jefferson wished to realize his full rights at 
the outset, forgetful of the wise maxim, that nothing 
human is at the same time both begun and perfected. 
Hamilton was conservative; Jefferson was radical. 
Hamilton penned the Constitution, Jefferson inter- 
preted it ; just as Homer wrote the Hiad, and Aris- 
totle afterward inferred from its matchless numbers 
the great rules and canons of poetical composition. 
But whether Hamilton or Jefferson understood the 
Constitution best, may be as readily determined as 
the question, who was the greater poet, the author or 
the critic of the Hiad, 



APPENDIX. 

isro. I. 

THE SOLEMN" DECLARATION AND PROTEST OF THE 
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA^ ON THE PRINCIPLES 
OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA^ AND ON THE VIOLATIONS OF THEM. 
WRITTEN BY MR. JEFFERSON. 

We, the General Assembly of Virginia, on behalf, 
and in the name of the people thereof, do declare as 
follows : 

The states of iSTorth America which confederated 
to establish their independence on the government of 
Great Britain, of which Virginia was one, became, 
on that acquisition, free and independent states, and 
as such authorized to constitute governments, each for 
itself, in such forms as it thought best. 

They entered into a compact, (which is called the 
Constitution of the United States of America,) by 
which they agreed to unite in a single government as 
to their relations with each other, and with foreign 

307 



308 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

nations, and as to certain other articles particularly 
specified. Tliey retained at the same time, each to 
itself, the other rights of independent government, 
comprehending mainly their domestic interests. 

For the administration of their federal branch, 
they agreed to appoint, in conjunction, a distinct set 
of functionaries, legislative, executive, and judiciary, 
in the manner settled in that compact ; while to each, 
severally, and of course, remained its original right 
of appointing, each for itself, a separate set of func- 
tionaries, legislative, executive, and judiciary, also, 
for administering the domestic branch of their re- 
spective governments. 

These two sets of officers, each independent of the 
other, constitute thus a whole of government, for each 
state separately; the powers ascribed to the one, as 
specifically made federal, exercised over the whole the 
residuary powers retained to the other, exercisable 
exclusively over its particular state, foreign herein, 
each to the others, as they were before the original 
compact. 

To this construction of government and distribu- 
tion of its powers, the commonwealth of Virginia 
does religiously and affectionately adhere, opposing, 
with equal fidelity and firmness, the usurpation of 
either set of functionaries on the rightful powers of 
the other. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 809 

But the federal branch has assumed, in some cases, 
and claimed in others, a right of enlarging its own 
powers by constructions, inferences, and indefinite 
deductions from those directly given, which this As- 
sembly does declare to be usurpations of the powders 
retained to the independent branches, mere interpola- 
tions into the compact, and direct infractions of it. 

They claim, for example, and have commenced the 
exercise of a right to construct roads, open canals, 
and effect other internal improvements within the ter- 
ritories and jurisdictions exclusively belonging to the 
several states, which this Assembly, does declare 
has not been given to that branch by the constitutional 
compact, but remains to each state among its domes- 
tic and unalienated powders, exercisable within itself 
and by its domestic authorities alone. 

This Assembly does further disavow and declare to 
be most false and unfounded, the doctrine that the 
compact, in authorizing its federal branch to lay and 
collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises to pay the 
debts and provide for the common defense and gen- 
eral welfare of the United States, has given them 
thereby a powder to do wdiatever they may think, or 
pretend, w^ould promote the general welfare, which 
construction would make that, of itself, a complete 
government, without limitation of powers; but that 
the plain sense and obvious meaning were, that they 



310 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

might levy the taxes necessary to provide for the gen- 
eral welfare, by the various acts of power therein 
specified and delegated to them, and by no others. 

'Nor is it admitted, as has been said, that the people 
of these states, by not investing their federal branch 
with all the means of bettering their condition, have 
denied to themselves any which may effect that pur- 
pose; since, in the distribution of these means, they 
have given to that branch those which belong to its 
department, and to the states have reserved separately 
the residue which belong to them separately. And 
thus by the organization of the two branches taken 
together, have completely secured the first object of 
human association, the full improvement of their 
condition, and reserved to themselves all the faculties 
of multiplying their own blessings. 

Whilst the General Assembly thus declares the 
rights retained by the states, rights which they have 
never yielded, and which this state will never volun- 
tarily yield, they do not mean to raise the banner of 
disaffection, or of separation from their sister states, 
co-parties with themselves to this compact. They 
know and value too highly the blessings of their 
Union as to foreign nations and questions arising 
among themselves, to consider every infraction as to 
be met by actual resistance. They respect too affec- 
tionately the opinions of those possessing the same 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 311 

riglits under the same instrument, to make every 
difference of construction a ground of immediate rup- 
ture. They would, indeed, consider such a rupture 
as among the greatest calamities which could befall 
them ; but not the greatest. There is yet one greater, 
submission to a government of unlimited powers. It 
is only when the hope of avoiding this shall become 
absolutely desperate, that further forbearance could 
not be indulged. Should a majority of the co-par- 
ties, therefore, contrary to the expectation and hope 
of this assembly, prefer, at this time, acquiescence in 
these assumptions of power by the federal member of 
the government, we will be patient and suffer much, 
under the confidence that time, ere it be too late, will 
prove to them also the bitter consequences in which 
that usurpation will involve us all. In the mean- 
while, we will breast with them, rather than separate 
from them, every misfortune, save that only of living 
under a government of unlimited powers. We owe 
every other sacrifice to ourselves, to our federal breth- 
ren, and to the world at large, to pursue with temper 
and perseverance the great experiment which shall 
prove that man is capable of living in society, govern- 
ing itself by laws self-imposed, and securing to its 
members the enjoyment of life, liberty, property and 
peace ; and further to show, that even when the gov- 
ernment of its choice shall manifest a tendency to 



312 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

degeneracy, we are not at once to despair but that the 
will and the watchfulness of its sounder parts will re- 
form its aberrations, recall it to original and legiti- 
mate principles, and restrain it within the rightful 
limits of self-government. And these are the objects 
of this Declaration and Protest. 

Supposing then, that it might be for the good of 
the whole, as some of its co-states seem to think, that 
the power of making roads and canals should be 
added to those directly given to the federal branch, as 
more likely to be systematically and beneficially di- 
rected, than by the independent action of the several 
states, this commonwealth, from respect to these opin- 
ions, and a desire of conciliation with its co-states, 
will consent, in concurrence with them, to make this 
addition, provided it be done regularly by an amend- 
ment of the compact, in the way established by that 
instrument, and provided also, it be sufficiently 
guarded against abuses, compromises, and corrupt 
practices, not only of possible, but of probable occur- 
rence. 

And as a further pledge of the sincere and cordial 
attachment of this commonwealth to the union of the 
whole, so far as has been consented to by the compact 
called " The constitution of the United States of 
America," (construed according to the plain and or- 
dinary meaning of its language, to the common in- 



LIFE OF THOIMAS JEFFERSON. 313 

tendment of the time, and of those who framed it ;) to 
give also to all parties and authorities, time for re- 
flection and for consideration, whether, nnder a tem- 
perate view of the possible consequences, and espe- 
cially of the constant obstructions which an equivocal 
majority must ever expect to meet, they will still pre- 
fer the assumption of this power rather than its ac- 
ceptance from the free-will of their constituents ; and 
to preserve peace in the meanwhile, we proceed to 
make it the duty of our citizens, until the legisla- 
ture shall otherwise and ultimately decide, to ac- 
quiesce under those acts of the federal branch of our 
government which we have declared to be usurpations, 
and against which, in point of right, we do protest as 
null and void, and never to be quoted as precedents of 
right. 



isro. 11. 

JEFFERSON^'s ESTIMATE OF FEDERALISM AND DEMOC- 
RACY.* 

Jefferson says " That at the formation of our 
government, many had formed their opinions on 

* From a letter to Judge Johnson , of South Carolina, in 1823. 



314: LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

European writings and practices, believing the ex- 
perience of old countries, and especially of England, 
oppressive as it was, to be a safer guide than mere 
theory. The doctrines of Europe were, that men in 
numerous associations cannot be restrained within 
the limits of order and justice but by forces physical 
and moral, wielded over them by authorities indepen- 
dent of their will. Hence their organization of 
kings, hereditary nobles, and priests. Still further 
to constrain the brute force of the people, they deem 
it necessary to keep them down by hard labor, pov- 
erty, and ignorance, and to take from them, as from 
bees, so much of their earnings, as that unremitting 
labor shall be necessary to obtain a sufficient surplus 
barely to maintain their privileged orders in splendor 
and idleness, to fascinate the eyes of the people, and 
excite in them an humble adoration and submission, 
as to an order of superior beings. Although few 
among us had gone all these lengths of opinion, yet 
many had advanced, some more, some less, on the 
way. And in the Convention which formed our gov- 
ernment, they endeavored to draw the cords of 
government as tight as they could obtain them, 
to lessen the dependence of the general func- 
tionaries on their constituents; to subject to them 
those of the states; and to weaken their means of 
maintaining the steady equilibrium which the major- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 315 

ity of the Convention had deemed salutary for both 
branches, general and local. To recover, therefore, 
in practice the powers which the nation had refused, 
and to warp to their own wishes those actually given, 
was the steady object of the federal party. Ours, on 
the contrary, was to maintain the will of the majority 
of the Convention, and of the people themselves. We 
believed, with them, that man was a rational animal, 
endowed by nature with rights, and with an innate 
sense of justice ; and that he could be restrained from 
w^rong, and protected in right, by moderate powers, 
confided to persons of his own choice, and held to 
their duties by dependence on his own will. We be- 
lieved that the complicated organization of kings, 
nobles, and priests, was not the wisest or best to effect 
the happiness of associated man; that wisdom and 
virtue were not hereditary ; that the trappings of such 
a machinery consumed, by their expense, those earn- 
ings of industry they were meant to protect, and, by 
the inequalities they produced, exposed liberty to suf- 
ferance. We believed that men enjoying in ease 
and security the full fruits of their own industry, en- 
listed by all their interests on the side of law and 
order, habituated to think for themselves, and to fol- 
low their reason as their guide, which would be more 
easily and safely governed, than with minds nour- 
ished in error^ and vitiated and debased, as in Eu- 



316 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

rope, by ignorance, indigence and oppression. The 
cherishment of the people was then our principle, the 
fear and distrust of them that of the other party. 
Composed, as we were, of the laboring interests of the 
country, we could not be less anxious for a govern- 
ment of law and order than were the inhabitants of 
the cities, the strongholds of federalism. And 
whether our efforts to save the principles and form of 
our Constitution have not been salutary, let the pres- 
ent republican freedom, order, and prosperity of our 
country determine. History may distort truth, and 
will distort it for a time, by the superior efforts at 
justification of those who are conscious of needing 
it most. Nor will the opening scenes of our present 
government be seen in their true aspect, until the let- 
ters of the day, now held in private hoards, shall be 
broken up and laid open to public view. What a 
treasure will be found in General Washington's cab- 
inet, when it shall pass into the hands of as candid a 
friend to truth as he was himself ! When no longer 
like Caesar's notes and memorandums in the hands of 
Anthony, it shall be open to the high priests of feder- 
alism only, and garbled to say so much and no more, 
as suits their view." 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 317 

NO. III. 

Jefferson's opinion of george Washington. 

*'' His mind was great and powerful, without being 
of the very first order ; his penetration strong, though 
not so acute as that of a ^Newton, Bacon, or Locke; 
and as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. 
It was slow in operation, being little aided by inven- 
tion or imagination, but sure in conclusion. Hence 
the common remark of his officers, of the advantage 
he derived from councils of war, where, hearing all 
suggestions, he selected whatever v\^as best; and cer- 
tainly no general ever planned his battles more judi- 
ciously. But if deranged during the course of the 
action, if any member of his plan was dislocated by 
sudden circumstances, he was slow in a readjustment. 
The consequence was, that he often failed in the field, 
and rarely against an enemy in station, as at Boston 
and York. He was incapable of fear, meeting per- 
sonal dangers with the calmest unconcern. Perhaps 
the strongest feature in his character was prudence, 
never acting until every circumstance, every consid- 
eration, was maturely weighed, refraining if he saw a 
doubt, but when once decided, going through with his 
purpose, whatever obstacles opposed. His integrity 



318 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I have 
ever known ; no motives of interest or consanguinity, 
of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decis- 
ion. He was, indeed, in every sense of the word, a 
wise, a good, and a great man. His temper was nat- 
urally ■ irritable and high-toned ; but reflection and 
resolution had obtained a firm and habitual ascen- 
dancy over it. If ever, however, it broke its bonds, 
he was most tremendous in his wrath. In his ex- 
penses he was honorable, but exact ; liberal in contri- 
butions to whatever promised utility; but frowning 
and unyielding on all visionary projects, and all un- 
worthy calls on his charity. His heart was not warm 
in its affections; but he exactly calculated every 
man's value, and gave him a solid esteem propor- 
tioned to it. His person, you know, was fine, his 
stature exactly Avhat one would wish, his deportment 
easy, erect and noble, the best horseman of his age, 
and the most graceful figure that could be seen on 
horseback. Although in the circle of his friends, 
where he might be unreserved with safety, he took a 
free share in conversation ; his colloquial talents were 
not above mediocrity, possessing neither copiousness 
of ideas, nor fluency of words. In public, when 
called on for a sudden opinion, he was unready, short 
and embarrassed. Yet he wrote readily, rather dif- 
fusely, in an easy and correct style. This he had ac- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 31 9 

quired bj conversaticn with the world, for his educa- 
tion was merely reading, writing, and common arith- 
metic, to which he added surveying at a later day. 
His time was employed in action chiefly, reading lit- 
tle, and that only in agriculture and English history. 
His correspondence became necessarily extensive, and 
with journalizing his agricultural proceedings occu- 
pied most of his leisure hours within doors. On the 
whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect ; in noth- 
ing bad, in a few points indifferent ; and it may truly 
be said, that never did nature and fortune combine 
more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him 
in the same constellation with whatever worthies have 
merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For 
his was the singular destiny and merit of leading the 
armies of his country successfully through an ardu- 
ous war, for the establishment of its independence ; of 
conducting its councils through the birth of a govern- 
ment, new in its forms and principles, until it had 
settled down into a quiet and orderly train; and of 
scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of 
his career, civil and military, of which the history of 
the world furnishes no other example.'^ 



320 life of thomas jefferson, 

:no. IY. 

JEFFERSON^S RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF LIFE. 

Mr. Jefferson wrote a letter to his namesake, 
Thomas Jefferson Smith, of Washington, at the in- 
stance of his father, who requested him to address 
something to his son which might have a salutary in- 
fluence on his future life, when he could understand 
it. More solid advice was never conveyed in so 
small a compass, and no one could have a better 
chance for respectability or happiness who would 
faithfully observe these precepts. Those which re- 
spect his religious and moral character are six. 1. 
Adore God. 2. Reverence and cherish your par- 
ents. 3. Love your neighbor as yourself, your 
country more than yourself. 4. Be just. 5. Be 
true. 6. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. 

He also gives him ten canons for the regulation of 
his practical life. They were — 1. I^ever put off 
till to-morrow what you can do to-day. 2. Never 
trouble another for what you can do yourself. 3. 
Never spend your money before you have it. 4. 
Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap ; 
it will be dear to you. 5. Pride costs us more than 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 321 

hunger, thirst and cold. 6. We never repent of 
having eaten too little. 7. Nothing is troublesome 
that we do willingly. 8. How much pain have cost 
us the evils which have never happened. 9. Take 
things by the smooth handle. 10. When angry, 
count ten before you speak ; if very angry, a hundred. 
He also cited to him for his imitation, the transla- 
tion of one of the Psalms, beginning, " Lord, who's 
the happy man ; " which he calls ^^ the portrait of a 
good man by the most sublime of poets." 



^O, V. 



JEFFERSON S CORRESPONDEiSrCE AFTER HIS RETIRE- 
MENT. 

K 

One of the inconveniences felt by Mr. Jefferson, 
from the conspicuous part he had acted in public 
affairs, as well as from his popularity, was the num- 
ber of letters with which he was importuned. This 
tax, in a greater or less degree, every ex-president 
must pay ; but no one, unless perhaps General Wash- 
ington, was ever called upon to pay it to the same ex- 
tent as Mr. Jefferson. He sorely complains of it in a 
letter to Mr. Adams, dated June 27, 1822. " I do 
not know how far you may suffer, as I do, under the 
21 



322 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

persecution of letters, of which every mail brings a 
fresh load. They are letters of inquiry for the most 
part, always of good-will, sometimes from friends 
w^hom I esteem, but much oftener from persons 
whose names are unlvno\vn to me, but written kindly 
and civilly, and to which, therefore, civility requires 
answers. Perhaps the better known failure of your 
hand in its function of writing, may shield you in 
greater degree from this distress, and so far qualify 
the misfortune of its disability. I happened to turn 
to my letter list some time ago, and a curiosity was 
excited to count those received in a single year. It 
was the year before last. I found the number to be 
one thousand two hundred and sixty-seven, many of 
them requiring answers of elaborate research, and all 
to be answered with due attention and consideration. 
Take an average of this number for a week or a day, 
and I will repeat the question suggested by other con- 
siderations in mine of the 1st. Is this life ? At best 
it is but the life of a mill-horse, who sees no end to his 
circle but in death. To such a life, that of a cabbage 
would be a paradise." 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



1^0. VI. 

JEFFERSO]Sr''s OPINIONS OF BONAPARTE AND THE ENG- 
LISH GOVERNMENT. 

For several years the uninterrupted military suc- 
cesses of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the gradual en- 
largement of his power to a height never before at- 
tained by man, excited not merely sympathy for the 
nations whom he despoiled of their independence, but 
very lively fears for that of the United States. It 
seemed as if the whole civilized world was destined, 
sooner or later, to bow to the ascendancy of his genius 
and fortune ; and though some hopes were entertained 
that he would meet with an effectual check in Spain, 
yet similar hopes had too often proved abortive, for 
these to be very lively. In a letter to Mr. Langdon 
of ISTew Hampshire, Mr. Jefferson thus discloses his 
views on this subject. " The fear that Bonaparte 
will come over to us and conquer us also, is too chi- 
merical to be genuine. Supposing him to have 
finished Spain and Portugal, he has yet England and 
Russia to subdue. These two subdued, ancient 
Greece and Macedonia, the cradle of Alexander, his 
prototype, and Constantinople, the seat of empire for 
the world, would glitter more in his eye than our 



324 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

bleak mountains and rugged forests. Egypt too, and 
the golden apples of Mauritania, have for more than 
half a century fixed the longing eyes of France ; and 
with Syria, you know, he has an old affront to wipe 
out. Then come ' Pontus and Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia, and Bith^mia.' the fine countries on the Eu- 
phrates and Tigris, the Oxus and Indus, and all be- 
yond the Hydaspes, which bounded the glories of his 
Macedonian rival; with the invitations of his new 
British subjects on the banks of the Ganges, whom, 
after receiving under his protection the mother coun- 
try, he cannot refuse to visit. Wlien all this is done 
and settled, and nothing of the old world remains un- 
subdued, he may turn to the new one. But will he 
attack us first, from whom he will get but hard 
knocks, and no money? or will he first lay hold of 
the gold and silver of Mexico and Peru, and the 
diamonds of Brazil. A repuhllca?i emperor, from 
his affection to republics, independent of motives of 
expediency, must grant to ours the Cyclops' boon of 
being the last devoured. ^\Tiile all this is doing, we 
are to suppose the chapter of accidents read out, and 
that nothing can happen to cut short or to disturb his 
enterprises." 

The following was his theory of the English gov- 
ernment : '' The real power and property in the gov- 
ernment is the great aristocratical families of the 



LII^E OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 325 

nation. The nest of office being too small for all of 
them to cuddle in at once, the contest is eternal which 
shall crowd the other out. For this purpose they are 
divided into two parties, the Ins and the Outs, so 
equal in weight that a small matter turns the balance. 
To keep themselves in when they are in, every strat- 
agem must be practised, every artifice used which 
may flatter the pride, the passions, or the power of 
the nation. Justice, honor, faith, must yield to the 
necessity of keeping themselves in place. The ques- 
tion w^hether a measure is moral, is never asked ; but 
whether it will nourish the avarice of their mer- 
chants, or the piratical spirit of their navy, or pro- 
duce any other effect which may strengthen them in 
their places. As to engagements, however positive, 
entered into by the predecessors of the Ins, why they 
were then enemies; they did everything which was 
wrong; and to reverse every thing they did must 
therefore be right. This is the true character of the 
British government in practice, however different its 
theory ; and it presents the singular phenomenon of a 
nation, the individuals of which are as faithful to 
their private engagements and duties, as honorable, as 
worthy, as those of any nation on earth, and whose 
government is yet the most unprincipled at this day 
known." He then speaks of the general causes why 
princes should be superior to other men, and by way 



326 LIFE OF "THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of illustration gives a sketch of the principal mon- 
archs of Europe, which, in the style of broad carica- 
ture, retains enough of resemblance to the originals 
to be readily acknowledged. 



NO. VIL 

JEFFEESON^S PKOFESSIONS OF FRIENDSHIP AND SE- 
CRET HOSTILITY TO BURR. 

To this person he continued to manifest the most 
respectful friendship, as will be seen by a letter of the 
1st of February, 1801, just before the competition 
for the Presidency was to be decided by the House of 
Representatives, and when it was desirable not to 
irritate Burr or disgust his friends. 

" Dear Sir : It was to be expected that the enemy 
would endeavor to sow tares between us that they 
might divide us and our friends. Every considera- 
tion assures me that you will be on your guard 
against this, as I assure you I am strongly. I hear 
of one stratagem so imposing and so base, that it is 
proper I should notice it to you. Mr. Mumford, who 
is here, says he saw at J^ew York before he left it, an 
original letter of mine to Judge Breckenridge, in 
which are sentiments highly injurious to you. He 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 327 

knows my handwriting, and did not doubt that to be 
genuine. I inclose you a copy taken from the press 
copy of the only letter I ever wrote Judge Brecken- 
ridge in my life ; the press copy itself has been shown 
to several of our mutual friends here. Of conse- 
quence the letter seen by Mr. Mumford must have 
been a forgery, and if it contains a sentiment un- 
friendly or disrespectful to you, I affirm it solemnly 
to be a forgery, as also if it varies from the copy 
enclosed. With the common trash of slander I 
should not think of troubling you, but the forgery of 
one's handwriting is too imposing to be neglected. 
A mutual knowledge of each other furnishes us with 
the best test of the contrivances which will be prac- 
ticed by the enemies of both." 

The difference here in point of fact is between the 
statements of Mr. Mumford and the "press copy; and 
as Mr. Jefferson himself affirms that, from the com- 
mencement of his acquaintance with Burr, he was in 
the habit of expressing to Mr. Madison his suspicions 
of his honesty, and perceived that he kept himself in 
the market, it is reasonable to suppose that he in- 
dulged the same sentiments in letters to other gentle- 
men, and that consequently the press copy was mis- 
taken. This is the more probable, as a similar acci- 
dent will hereafter be pointed out, and as he does not 
refer Burr to Judge Breckenridge, either for a sight 



328 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of the letter itself or for a copy of it. The last sen- 
tence, however, contains the quintessence of deceit, 
where he tells Burr, that by reflecting on their mutual 
sincerity and reciprocal respect, he would furnish 
himself with the best possible test for detecting the 
poison of the mischief-making fabrications of their 
enemies. That is, *^ if you hear any thing of me in- 
consistent with honor on my part, and with respect 
and friendship for you, you have only to feel assured 
that it is a base contrivance of our mutual enemies to 
sow tares between us. This is the reasoning I shall 
employ, should a similar stratagem be attempted on 
me.' ITow only suppose that Mr. Madison had just 
at this time discovered to Burr one of the '' habitual 
cautions,'' which he had received in regard to him ! 

When, however, in 1807, his friend Burr was ar- 
rested on a charge of treason, he discovered that he 
had all along despised him, in spite both of his own 
endearing professions, and of the equally cordial ef- 
fusions of his press copy. In a letter to Mr. Giles of 
the 20th of April, 1807, (Vol. IV. p. 74,) he says: 
" Against Burr personally I never had one hostile 
sentiment. I never indeed thought him an honest, 
frank-dealing man, but considered him as a crooked 
gun, or other perverted machine, whose aim or shot 
you could never be sure of." 

The contrast between these sentiments and those in 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 329 

the Anas, on the one hand, and those in his letters to 
Burr, — all volunteers, not answers — on the other; 
will be useful in enabling jou to comprehend the dif- 
ference of his style, Avhen speaking to a man he hated, 
and of him. It justifies the inference that at the 
very moment he was so grossly traducing Gen. Lee to, 
Gen. Washington, declaring that he had never '^ done 
him any other injury than that of declining his con- 
fidences," he would have been glad, had there been 
the least prospect of promoting his own interest by it, 
to encumber him with epistles and press copies of 
homage and attachment. 

Of the object of the conspiracy, his conduct in re- 
gard to which is now to he compared with that pur- 
sued in quelling the Western insurrection, he gives 
the following account in a letter of the 2d of April, 
180Y, to our minister in Spain, (Vol. IV. p. Yl,) 
" Although at first he proposed a separation of the 
Western country, and on that ground received en- 
couragement and aid from Yrujo, according to the 
usual spirit of his government toward us, yet he very 
early saw that the fidelity of the Western country 
was not to be shaken, and turned himself wholly to- 
ward Mexico.'' And in the letter to Mr. Giles of the 
20th, he thus describes the points of treason he ex- 
pects to be established, by witnesses whose testimony 
he affirms " will satisfy the world, if not the Judge, 



330 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of Burr's guilt " — '' And I do suppose the following 
overt acts will be proved : 1. The enlistment of men 
in a regular way. 2. The regular mounting of 
guard round Blennerhasset's island, when they dis- 
covered Governor Tiffin's men to be on them rnodo 
guerrino arriati. 3. The rendezvous of Burr with 
his men at the mouth of Cumberland. 4. His letter 
to the acting Governor of Mississippi, holding up the 
prospect of civil war. 5. His capitulation regularly 
signed with the aids of the Governor, as between two 
independent hostile commanders." 

These acts, he says, amount incontestably to trea- 
son. Yet the attack of five hundred armed men on 
the house of the inspector of the revenue, and a de- 
tachment of the troops of the United States — the 
burning the inspector's house and forcing an officer of 
the United States xirmy to march out and surrender 
— the shooting at the marshal with intent to kill 
him, while in the execution of his duty — the seizing 
and violating the mail of the United States on its 
passage to the seat of government — the arrest and in- 
timidation of the marshal — the banishment of those 
citizens of Pittsburg, Avho were suspected of allegi- 
ance to their country — open resistance to the laws 
and defiance of the government — the rejection of an 
offered amnesty — the preparation of a force of 7,000 
men to wage war against the United States, and to 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 331 

effect ultimately a dissolution of the Union — all these 
revolting outrages, in the comparative infancy of the 
government, when they were leveled at the peace and 
dignity of the nation, through the fame and feelings 
of President Washington, Mr. Jefferson considered 
as nearly harmless, as provoked by " an infernal 
law," and as at most merely " riotous transactions ! " 

The force with which Burr was to accomplish his 
designs, he estimates as follows, in a letter of the 14th 
of July, 1807, to Gen. Lafayette. (Vol. IV. p. 97.) 
" Burr had probably engaged one thousand men to 
follow his fortunes, without letting them know his 
projects, otherwise than by assuring them the gov- 
ernment approved of them. The moment a procla- 
mation issued imdeceiving them, he found himself 
left with about thirty desperadoes only." This con- 
spirator, with his gang of thirty followers, however, 
was too formidable to be left unpunished, whether in 
due course of law or not, and therefore the President 
of the United States descended from his station, and 
took the lead in hunting him down. 

Accordingly, on the 2d of June, 1807, he opened a 
correspondence with the District Attorney of the 
United States, (Vol. IV. pp. 75 to 103,) which for 
indecency to the court, disrespect for the indepen- 
dence of a co-ordinate department, outrage upon the 
sanctity of justice, and cruelty to the prisoner, was 



332 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

never exceeded by the executive authority of any 
nation, in any age. After saying to Mr. Hay, 
^'^ While Burr's case is depending before the court, I 
will trouble you from time to time with what occurs 
to me,'' — he proceeds to counsel him as to the manage- 
ment of various stages of the prosecution, inspiring 
him all the while with distrust of the purity of the 
court before which he was pleading, until the 19th of 
June, when he makes a suggestion, the wickedness of 
which cannot be adequately expressed in any lan- 
guage but his own. (p. 86.) " I inclose you the copy 
of a letter received last night, and giving singular in- 
formation. I have inquired into the character of 
Gray bell. He was an old revolutionary captain, is 
now a flour merchant in Baltimore, of the most re- 
spectable character, and whose word would be taken 
as implicitly as any man's for whatever he affirms. 
The letter writer also is a man of entire respectabil- 
ity. I am well informed that for more than a 
twelvemonth it has been believed in Baltimore, gen- 
erally, that Burr was engaged in some criminal en- 
terprise, and that Luther Martin knew all about it. 
We think you should immediately dispatch a sub- 
poena for Graybell ; and while that is on the road, you 
will have time to consider in what form you will use 
his testimony : e. g. shall Luther Martin be sum- 
moned as a witness against Burr, and Graybell held 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 333 

ready to confront him ? It may be doubted whether we 
could examine a witness to discredit our own witness. 
Besides, the lawyers say that they are privileged from 
being forced to breaclies of confidence, and that no 
others are. Shall we move to commit Luther Mar- 
tin, as particeps crimin'is with Burr? Graybell will 
^^ upon him suspicion of treason at least. And at 
any rate, his testimony will put down this unprin- 
cipled and impudent federal bull-dog, and add an- 
other proof that the most clamorous defenders of 
Burr are all his accomplices. It will explain why 
Luther Martin flew so hastily to the aid of his ^ hon- 
orable friend,' abandoning his clients and their prop- 
erty during the session of a principal court in Mary- 
land, now filled, as I am told, with the clamors and 
ruin of his clients." 

You perceive from this that a general beliefs re- 
ported to exist in Baltimore, of Burr's having medi- 
tated an unlawful enterprise, of some sort or other, 
and that Luther Martin Ic^ieiv all about it; with the 
second hand assertion that this knowledge could be 
proved by a third person, was cause sufficient in the 
humane and philosophic mind of Mr. Jefferson to fix 
the stigma of treason on Luther Martin, by arresting 
him as particeps criminis with the prisoner he was 
defending. And if this unjust proceeding should 
fail of every other effect, it would at least have the 



334 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

happy one '' of putting down this unprincipled and 
impudent federal bull-dog '' — ^that is, it would silence 
him as an advocate for Burr — would deprive the 
prisoner of the assistance of the counsel on whom he 
peculiarly relied in a trial for his life, and thus ex- 
pose him to all the violence and stratagem that the 
zeal of lawyers and the unbridled hate of the Execu- 
tive could impart to the prosecution. Had this cruel 
project been fulfilled, Burr would have stood like 
Bothwell, his sword-arm broken and his dagger lost, 
while his bloodthirsty and hypocritical adversary, 
represented by the President, brandished his impa- 
tient blade aloft, and plunged it to the hilt in his 
body. 

In unison with this unparalleled mixture of craft 
and inhumanity, more fit for the cells of the Spanish 
Inquisition than for an American court of justice, is 
his resentment at the zeal with which Mr. Martin un- 
dertook the defense of a man, who, though accused, 
was yet unconvicted, was under the legal presump- 
tion of innocence, had been dear to Martin as a 
friend, and had, moreover, a right, on the usual con- 
ditions, to his services. The whole correspondence 
with Mr. Hay is of this cast, diversified occasionally 
with promises of new witnesses, and interspersed to- 
ward the close of the trial with insinuations against 
the integrity of the court ; leaving but one doubt as to 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 335 

the disposition of President Jefferson at the time, 
that is, whether he was more eager to hang the judge 
or the criminal. 



]sro. viii. 

JEFFEESOn's STRICTTJEES OIT WASHI]!TGTON"'s admin- 
ISTEATIOIT. 

Should your good-nature revolt at the vindictive 
appearance of the examination, through the perplexi- 
ties of which I am endeavoring to guide you, I have 
little to soothe it with, but an expression of my regret, 
or to relieve it by, but an appeal to your justice. If 
Mr. Jefferson's character is now for the first time to 
be displayed in its true light, and to be divested of 
the folds of artifice and delusion in which he dis- 
guised it, it is only because he painted in false and 
opprobrious colors that of others ; and though it be, 
when thus exposed, a subject of unpleasing contem- 
plation, it may prove a useful and instructive study. 
In the system of the moral world, it seems to be estab- 
lished by Providence, that injustice done to our 
neighbor should sooner or later recoil on ourselves. 
And naturalists tell us, that although, at first sight, 
the history of the lion appears more entertaining than 



336 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

that of all other beasts, yet that on close inspection, 
more vivid curiosity and agreeable wonder are excited 
by the structure of the spider — that sly insect, 
which — 

** Throned on the centre of his thin designs, 
Proud of a vast extent of flimsy lines," 

entangles and destroys the bold hornet and the blos- 
som-loving bee. 

Pursuing then the analysis of this envenomed let- 
ter to Mr. Madison, let us pass from its palpable in- 
justice toward Gen. Washington and Gen Lee, to the 
consideration of its main design, which is both con- 
cealed, and betrayed by an artifice, not unlike the 
trick of an Indian juggler. The object of all Mr. 
Jefferson's schemes and movements, of his friend- 
ships and hatreds, his slanders and praises; of that 
philosophy, for worship in the sanctuary of which, he 
would have the world believe he was predestined by 
nature, (Vol. IV. p. 126, et passim,) of his mis-quo- 
tation from the Georgics, (Vol. III. p. 337, his 
'' mould-board of least resistance," (p. 334;) of that 
retirement which was so profound, that lest it should 
be unnoticed, he proclaimed it in all directions, as the 
Irishman was to whistle when he should fall asleep; 
the real object of all these professions, passions, pre- 
tensions, and manoeuvres, was the office of Preident. 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 337 

For this lie deserted the Cabinet of Washington, 
against the entreaties of that illustrious man; and 
having got into a private station, — for this, he was 
now wriggling and stretching to get out of it. To 
Mr. Madison, whose powerful aid was indispensable, 
he was holding out his hand for help. 

In disparaging and traducing Gen. Washington so 
industriously, his intention was not to supplant him ; 
for besides that he could neither have desired nor 
hoped to compete with him before the people, he 
knew the general was now in his second and last offi- 
cial term. But his design was by curtailing the in- 
fluence of his name and opinions, to change the course 
of succession, which, should that influence be left un- 
impaired, the sense of the nation would probably give 
to the Chief Magistracy — devolving it first on 
Adams, whom he disliked, next on Hamilton, whom 
he hated; whose superiority in the Cabinet he had 
felt and still resented ; whose ready eloquence, cogent 
reasoning, practical views, ascendant genius, martial 
spirit, generous character, rebuked and foiled by his 
own subtle sagacity, pussillanimous temper, and in- 
direct ambition. 

As it was to be supposed that Mr. Madison was 
apprised of Gen. Washington's wish to appoint him 
Secretary of State, and for that and other reasons re- 
tained a degree of kindness and respect for him, there 
22 



338 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

was room to apprehend that his sense of justice would 
revolt at the gross and virulent detraction which Mr. 
Jefferson, in execution of one part of his scheme, had 
thought proper to hazard. Therefore, as physicians 
expel one poison from the body by the introduction of 
a more energetic one, the sage of Monticello pro- 
ceeded to counteract the occurrence of remorse, by 
means of those never-failing agents, vanity and am- 
bition. While urging Mr. Madison to persevere in 
his meritorious opposition, and foretelling that a 
change of men and measures was soon to take place, 
he encroached so far on the " double delicacy " of 
himself, and the simple modesty of his friend, as to 
insist that if he does retire, it must only be " to a 
more splendid and a more efficacious post ; " for 
which, by the way, by an evolution peculiar to his 
own tactics, he had himself retired. The heartfelt 
joy this promotion of Mr. Madison over his own head 
would give him, may be better conceived than de- 
scribed ; steeped as he lay in the charms of a " re- 
tirement," which he protests he ^' would not give up 
for the empire of the universe." 

!N"othing could be more skillful than this move. 
Like that of a knight at chess, it placed in check 
King, Queen and Castle, and all at once. It told 
the opposition that it was time to bring forward de- 
terminedly a candidate for the Presidency. It said 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 339 

to Mr. Madison, '' As I have proposed you for this 
post, you cannot do less than support me, upon that 
principle of seniority and civility which would be 
observed were we to come together at the entrance of 
a drawing-room." It suppressed any scruples that a 
gentleman might feel at entering into an alliance 
founded on injustice to the father of his country, by 
overshadowing his judgment with clouds of vain in- 
cense and visions of future greatness through which 
Mr. Jefferson's election could not but appear as pre- 
vious and instrumental to his own elevation, and it 
conformed apparently with that rural seclusion which 
the artless philosopher loved as dearly as he did his 
friend Col. Burr, and was as willing to forsake. 

These advantages of the manoeu\Te were not coun- 
terbalanced by a single inconvenience. There was 
not the slightest chance of Mr. Madison's superseding 
him ; for besides that he was a man of personal mod- 
esty and of comparatively mild ambition, Mr. Jeffer- 
son was entitled by preoccupancy to the head of the 
opposition; to precedence, by superior age, and the 
high diplomatic and executive stations he had filled, 
to the duties of which Mr. Madison was yet a stran- 
ger. Had it been in his wish therefore to put him- 
self before Mr. Jefferson, it would not have been in 
his power. Mr. Madison's situation and character at 
the time, in short, render it a moral certainty, that 



340 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Mr. Jefferson's professing a wish to see his election, 
was simply an expedient to promote his own. 

In tracing his correspondence up to the 19th of 
June, 1796, when he wrote the letter in vulgar abuse 
of Gen. Lee, and cruel humbug of Gen. Washington, 
I shall not stop to notice those in which he exasper- 
ates the zeal of Mr. Giles's opposition; encourages 
and counsels that of Mr. Madison ; hails the appear- 
ance of an inconsiderable demagogue in Pennsyl- 
vania as ^' an acquisition upon which he congratu- 
lates republicanism ; " caricatures by a most invid- 
ious criticism one of the President's messages to Con- 
gress, and by lecturing Mr. Rutledge of Carolina, on 
the debt of public service he had left unpaid to the 
nation by his retirement from political life, endeavors 
to provoke a reciprocation of that grateful reproach. 

These I shall pass by, as subordinate stratagems in 
his grand design ; at once exposed by and exposing it, 
in order to examine his strictures on the next in suc- 
cession and importance of President Washington's 
measures — the treaty of amity, commerce and navi- 
gation, concluded with the government of Great 
Britain, on the 19th of November, 1794, by our 
envoy Mr. Jay. 

A sketch has already been attempted of our politi- 
cal parties, from their rise to the period at which Mr. 
Jefferson took his place at the head of Gen. Washing- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 341 

ton's cabinet. And it was then observed that occa- 
sions very soon presented themselves for such differ- 
ences of opinion as were likely to be discovered by 
sects so oppositely constituted. But in the nature of 
our new relations with Great Britain, causes of pe- 
culiar excitement and discussion were found. 

Washington and the great body of his political 
friends readily passed from real war to genuine peace, 
in conformity with the solemn assurance given to the 
world in the Declaration of Independence, that the 
citizens of the United States would thenceforth hold 
the British nation like the rest of mankind, ^^ enemies 
in war, in peace friends." This promise they could 
well afford to fulfill, having signalized both their op- 
position to England, and love for their own country, 
their impatience of tyranny and devotion to freedom 
in the painful marches and bloody conflicts of a seven 
years' war. With the return of peace, to the minds 
of such men returned the sentiments belonging to it 
— justice, moderation, amity, good faith, and all 
those fair dispositions that lead to the mutual advan- 
tage of nations. 

When, therefore, from the unavoidable delay which 
occurred on our part in executing that article of the 
treaty of peace which stipulated for the payment by 
our citizens of a description of debts due to the sub- 
jects of Great Britain, that government refused to 



3tl:2 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

surrender, in conformity with conditions in the same 
treaty, certain military posts on the southern margin 
of the great lakes, they used their utmost exertions to 
have our side of the covenant strictly performed, in 
order to secure the right dependent on it. In the 
same temper they endeavored to preserve an exact 
neutrality in the wav between France and England, 
and preferred negotiation with both belligerents, as 
long as it could be honorably maintained, to war 
against either, as the means of repairing the actual, 
and preventing the future injury, to which our com- 
merce was exposed by their collision. 

As the opposite party had not expended their ani- 
mosity in the generous trade of war, much of it re- 
mained on the conclusion of peace; and as they had 
not been able to demonstrate their zeal in the Revo- 
lution by such bold and patriotic evidences as Gen. 
Washington and his followers had exhibited, they 
sought now to display it by an unseasonable hostility 
toward Great Britain. In this spirit they insinuated 
that the endeavors of the administration to execute 
faithfully the treaty of peace, and to establish a com- 
mercial intercourse with England, manifested, with 
other of their measures, a monarchial tendency in 
their councils, if not a design to replace us under the 
dominion of the British crown. To color these im- 
putations they alleged that our resistance to the en- 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 343 

croachments of France evinced a secret partiality for 
England — inconsistent with the gratitude due to her 
rival, and the sympathy which one republic ought to 
feel for another. 

Those against whom these accusations were di- 
rected, did not fail, in repelling them, to assert that 
they proceeded from politicians unduly partial to 
France, dishonorably insensible to the rights and dig- 
nity of their own country, and willing to gratify their 
lust of power at the expense of her character and in- 
terest. 

It thus occurred that habit was engrafted on the 
public mind of regarding the measures of government 
less as they affected our own prosperity, than as they 
seemed likely to bear upon one or other of these an- 
tagonist nations, a habit, which, by the machinations 
and predominance of Mr. Jefferson, among other con- 
sequences, encouraged that fond injustice and affec- 
tionate inferiority, with which, in a more or less in- 
solent shape, we have been since regarded by the suc- 
cessive governments of France. 

This being the dispositions of the ins and outs — 
the one determined to condemn any connection with 
Great Britain which did not secure, not only all our 
rights but all our pretensions, and not only all that 
we pretended to, but every thing that we wished for 
— ^the other compelled to choose between the calamity 



344 LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

of a war, and the convenience of tlie best agreement, 
which, under existing circumstances they could ne- 
gotiate; it is not surprising that the ratification of 
Jay's treaty, in which the concessions and advantages 
of the contracting powers were pretty equally bal- 
anced, gave occasion to much discontent and violent 
censure. 

In inflaming this discontent and exacerbating this 
censure, no one took more pains than Mr. Jefferson. 
In a letter to Mann Page, (Vol. III. p. 314,) declin- 
ing attendance at the exhibition of a village academy, 
he digresses to the subject of the treaty, and takes 
occasion from it to sneer most indecently at the Pres- 
ident. In a letter to Mr. Madison on the next page, 
(21st Sept. 1795, urging him to answer a piece which 
Hamilton had published in explanation of the ad- 
vantages of the treaty, he states his opinion of it in 
the following words — " It certainly is an attempt 
of a party, who find they have lost their majority in 
one branch of the legislature, to make a law by the 
aid of the other branch, and of the Executive, under 
color of a treaty which shall bind up the hands of the 
adverse branchy from ever restraining the commerce 
of their patron nation.'' This objection implies, not 
that any right of the United States had been sacri- 
ficed or interest neglected, but that the commerce of 
Great Britain was not to be restrained. As to the 



MAV n.^ 



LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 345 

word ever, the violence of its misapplication can be 
conceived only by reflecting that the treaty, in its 
principal articles, was limited expressly to ten years. 
In the same letter he tells Mr. Madison that a 
number of Hamilton's pieces had been sent to him, 
with an answer by a Mr. Beckley ; and that he gave 
these, " the poison and the antidote, to honest, sound- 
hearted men of common understanding,'' by way of 
experiment. Finding that Hamilton's pieces, in 
spite of Beckley's answer, produced conviction on the 
minds of these honest, common-sense citizens, he adds 
with rare simplicity, '' I have ceased therefore to give 
them " — showing that this advocate for the diffusion 
of knowledge, for "• leaving reason free to combat er- 
ror of opinion," had no scruple in suppressing argu- 
ments however clear and convincing, if at variance 
with his own interested views. It does not appear 
that Mr. Madison could be induced to enter the lists 
in this controversy, finding it probably more easy to 
join Mr. Jefferson in reprobating the treaty, than to 
oppose Hamilton's logic in its defense. 



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